TUGS: The Winter of 1923
by The Blue Engine
Summary: It is Winter in Bigg City, and the worst one for many years! The Star Tugs must work together if they wish to pull through. Along with several new friends, they must battle love, explosions, crashes, eco-warriors and an old villian with a score to settle
1. Guy Fawkes: Part 1

Guy Fawkes  
November 4th, 1923  
Winter had come earlier than expected to the Bigg City area and it was predicted to be one of the worst the area had ever seen. Temperatures at night were usually below 0 and came with a thick cloud of fog and snowstorms that made work very difficult. Several lighthouses and lightships in the area were now under a lot of pressure to keep working, otherwise there would be severe causalities. OJ was heading to Uptown to start logging duties early next morning. Snow was battering him and he water was the coldest it had ever been.  
"They shouldn't send an old timer like me out in this weather." He mumbled to himself as snow splattered his glasses. "I haven't seen weather likes this for years! The logs will probably have frozen together by morning." He was currently chugging through Mittsville. If OJ stopped here, Captain Starr would find out somehow and he gets in trouble. However, the weather seemed to be getting worse and OJ's glasses were fogging up. Suddenly, something softly hit his side. There weren't any rocks around here, but OJ could have run into one of the docks.  
"OJ, what are you doing out here?" Came a familiar voice.  
"Billy Shoepack, am I glad to see you! Well, I can't actually see you, but good to hear a familiar voice." OJ replied.  
"I was just heading back to my warehouse, want to bunk there for the night?" Billy asked. OJ paused for a second. Billy lived in one of the warehouses of his employers, the Munitions Company. OJ felt rather uncertain, but it was better than staying out in the weather.  
"Sure." He replied, still unease. Billy towed OJ towards the warehouse and OJ felt warm as soon as he passed through the doors.  
"I generally keep a small amount of fuel lit to keep me warm." Billy explained. OJ felt relieved by this and chugged up towards the lit barge. His glasses soon became clear and looked over a Billy. He was very wet from the snow melting away.  
"I am glad you found me. I probably would have frozen if I was out there any longer." OJ chuckled.  
"I was just doing some late night pick-ups. It's Guy Fawkes tomorrow and the mayor has arranged a big fireworks display to be spread over Bigg City, Mittsville and Uptown." Billy explained. "The Z-Stacks are coming up tomorrow as part of their contract to help deliver things."  
"They better not get in the way of our logging duty." OJ grumbled. "All we need is those Z-Stacks causing tr-" OJ never finished his sentence. Outside, over the howling wind, they heard shouts and a loud scraping noise, and then a loud creak. The two tugs fell silent and rushed to the warehouse doors, but they couldn't see anything through the fog or snow.

By half past six the next morning, it had stopped snowing and the fog was clearing, leaving only a thin mist behind. Billy and OJ came out of the warehouse and headed towards one of the docks to investigate the noise from last night. It turned out that an old tram steamer had tried to leave during the night and had crashed into the docks and had whacked one of the metal supports of an ancient water tower that had been the pride of the town for decades. Little Ditcher was there with some naval tugs helping to pull the tram steamer.  
"Hello Billy, OJ." Little Ditcher called out as they approached. "Would you mind giving us a hand?"  
"This is a naval operation, we decide wheter we need help or not." One of the tugs said gruffly and glared at the two.  
"Ignorant younging!" OJ huffed. The naval tugs struggled for five minutes to pull the tram steamer, who kept yelling profanities as he winced in pain. Then, the rude naval tug turned to OJ and Billy.  
"Need our help now, do ya?" Billy said. "Well, don't expect us to give you any!"  
"Now now Billy, go fetch a small amount of dynamite and we can blast the tram steamer and get some momentum so we can pull it off." The naval tugs gasped.  
"Do you work for the munitions company? You could have said something." A second naval tug huffed.  
"Thought it would go to naval protocol." Billy retorted and OJ and Little Ditched chuckled as the tugs flushed. Billy soon came back with a nearly empty barrel of gunpowder.  
"You better not try anything funny!" The tram steamer nervously called out through a megaphone.  
"Don't worry, this stuff won't hurt a bit." Billy smiled. The naval tugs, OJ and Little Ditcher were ready to pull the second the explosion happened. The barrel was placed on the dock, half of it in the hull of the tram steamer. Billy lit the fuse and backed away.  
"Ok, 5… 4… 3… 2… 1, pull!" The alligator tug cried. There was a small explosion and the tram steamer cried out as it was lifted slightly out of the water and off the dock, allowing the rescue team to pull it away before it came back down. It hit the water with a splash and sighed. OJ inspected the damage.  
"That's a pretty big hole, but it could probably be mended, though it'll take a while." He said. The naval tugs grouchily pulled the tram steamer away after the hole in his side had been boarded up sufficiently.  
"Didn't you say you had logging duty today?" Billy said. OJ gasped and let off a blast of his hooter.  
"Thank you for reminding me, I nearly forgot! Thanks for your hospitality last night Billy, I'll see you two later." OJ turned around to leave when five familiar faces arrived: Ten Cents, Sunshine, Zorran, Zip and Zug. All five of them were yelling at each other and OJ had to yell and blast his hooter several times for them to quieten down.  
"Lookie here boys," Zorran said sneeringly to Zip and Zug. "Turns out the paddler managed to make it up here without freezing." Zip and Zug laughed stupidly.  
"What were you lot bickering about?" OJ asked, ignoring Zorran's remark.  
"Sunshine and I were talking to Boomer on our way up and Zorran "accidentally" slammed into us as they passed." Ten Cents said.  
"Not my fault if you two prefer having a nice chit-chat than working." Zorran growled.  
"You nearly dented us, there was no cause for that!" Sunshine huffed.  
"Oh build a bridge Sunshine and gut over it." Zip snorted. Everyone in the vicinity looked at him.  
"Boat's don't go over bridges, dummy!" Zug snapped. "But he does have a fair point."  
"FAIR, what's fair about getting hit?" Ten Cents shouted.  
"Oh shut up Ten Cents, no one cares what a goody-goody switcher has to say." Zorran growled and they all started shouting again. It wasn't until the old water tower started to creak again that they shut up.  
"What happened here?" Sunshine asked. OJ, Billy and Little Ditcher brought them up to speed.  
"But we don't have time to sit around here and talk, we've got work to do." Billy said, and turned to the Z-Stacks. "As long as _they_ still want their contract." Zorran glowered at Billy.  
"Of course we want this contract, just shut up and show us to our barges." He snapped. Billy sighed and trundled off and farewelled the Star's and Little Ditcher.  
"I wonder what will happen to the water tower." Sunshine said sadly. "I always loved to look at it whenever I was in Mittsville."  
"I am very sorry Sunshine, but we are running late and unless you to do garbage duty for the rest of the month, I recommend we hurry up." OJ said sternly. The Star's turned to leave when they saw a familiar tug come around the corner. He was black like the Z-Stacks, but much friendly, though the eye patch over his left eye and the Munitions logo on his stack made him seem menacing.  
"Sea Rouge!" Ten Cents and Sunshine cried together. Sea Rouge looked around and a beam came across his face.  
"Hello you two!" He said and chugged over to them. "I haven't seen you two since you saved me and my Uncle."  
"How is your Uncle?" Ten Cents asked.  
"He is doing alright. The munitions company brought him and use him to collect coal and supplies for us. He is still a bit traumatised over the events, but is relieved that he was able to find a job."  
"I would go mad with boredom if I didn't work." OJ said. "Though Burke and Blair would probably scrap me before that happened."  
"I didn't know you worked for the munitions company." Sunshine said.  
"Surprised you didn't notice, the logo has always been on my stack." Sea Rouge said. "I mainly tow in tramp steamers with loads for us, or do odd jobs around Mittsville to earn a bit more money." He then looked up at the water tower. "It'll be a pity when that's gone." The three Star Tugs and Little Ditcher gasped.  
"What do you mean?" Little Ditcher exclaimed.  
"The navy is going to use the tower as practice for some new weaponry. Bluenose and a couple of motor boats will be here soon so that they can avoid any protestors. I am too supervise." Sea Rouge let out a sad sigh. "We better leave, we are running very late." OJ said sternly, though he looked very sad. He bade farewell to Sea Rouge and turned to leave.  
"OJ!" Sunshine cried out. The paddle tug stopped and turned around.  
"Yes?"  
"Could Ten Cents and I stay down here for a little bit and try and talk Bluenose out of it?" The little switcher asked. OJ looked down at him and sighed.  
"I don't see why not. But get up to the logging area soon or the job will take too long. And if Bluenose starts getting violent or bossier than usual, leave before he does anything stupid."  
"Thank you OJ, we will make sure to be up there soon!" Ten Cents beamed and the two watched OJ chug off.  
"So, do you two seriously think you can stop Bluenose from blowing it up?" Sea Rouge smirked.  
"Of course we can, tugs can do anything." Sunshine said proudly.  
"As long as the Z-Stacks keep their munitions away." Ten Cents said jokingly

***

The Z-Stacks were waiting impatiently for an old crane to unload a tramp steamer with their dangerous loads. Billy was inside the warehouse doing a stock take of the fireworks, staying close enough to hear their conversations.  
"Hey Zorran, look, OJ is heading up to the logging camps alone!" Zug smiled deviously.  
"Should we follow him?" Zip asked hopefully. The two switchers loved to please Zorran and Captain Zero. Zorran pondered it.  
"The logging job does earn them a fair bit of money. Leave in about half an hour so it won't seem suspicious. If he catches you, which is highly likely with you two dunderheads, then say you were looking for barges. Take some of the munitions and blast the barges blocking the logs from escaping and see what happens." Zorran snicked. Zip and Zug were use to being insulted that they ignore his rude remark and laughed along side. Billy gasped silently and quickly began to ponder his own plan to rescue OJ.


	2. Guy Fawkes: Part 2

Ten Cents, Sunshine, Sea Rouge and Little Ditcher chatted away while they waited for Bluenose to arrive. They talked for two hours, by which the sun was high in the sky and the sea was warming up. Every now and then the water tower would creak, but the four tried not to show their worry. Not many boats come past, usually only a few tugs and motorboats and a couple of recreational yachts. Eventually, Bluenose chugged up with a white switcher around Sunshine's size. His name was Northern Lights, but he was the smallest tug in the Navy so was nicknamed Junior. They had a barge in between them with a brand new naval gun attached to it. Bluenose tested out the new weaponry before it was attached to the ships. Junior detached himself from the barge and went over to Bluenose's other side.  
"Attention!" He cried. The tugs and Little Ditcher just stared at him.  
"Listen to your senior." Junior hissed. Sea Rouge glared at him with his one eye and the switcher backed down.  
"You, Eyepatch, have you gone and received permission from the Mayor for the water tower to be used in naval ammunition practice?" Bluenose bellowed.  
"Yes, but…" Sea Rouge began, but Bluenose barged through him.  
"I recommend you stand clear." He bellowed. Ten Cents and Sunshine chugged in front of the barge  
"You can't destroy this, it is the pride of the town." Sunshine cried.  
"If you give us a little bit, Puffa could go and collect some more steel to replace the broken support." Ten Cents pleaded.  
"Let me think… NO!" Bluenose cried, making the two jump back. "The Mayor has given us permission as he doesn't think it can be repaired in time before it falls over."  
"I am surprised the Navy even let you back in after that big munitions disaster." Little Ditcher said airily. Everyone looked at him.  
"Excuse me small crane, but that was not my fault." Bluenose spluttered.  
"From what I heard it is. Didn't you smash into some barges full of munitions?" Little Ditcher asked.  
"That might have happened…" Bluenose said, trailing off.  
"I mean, you did cause one of their most valuable tramp steamers to go up in flames." Little Ditcher continued.  
"I order you to be quiet!" Bluenose boomed.  
"And then Big Mickey fell over and nearly crushed all of the tugs there…"  
"BE QUIET!"  
"And Puffa and Ten Cents were nearly damaged due to other explosions."  
"This is going to far, SHUT UP!"  
"And the whole dockyard went up in flames."  
"SHUT UP I TELL YOU, SHUT UP!" Bluenose yelled and he charged towards Little Ditcher and slammed into him. Little Ditcher then turned his arm around and used his hook to loosen Bluenose's rope on the barge.  
"TEN CENTS, SUNSHINE, SEA ROUGE, GET IT!" The crane bellowed. The three tugs exchanged looks and charged. Bluenose turned and gasped.  
"JUNIOR, STOP THEM AT ONCE!" The tiny switcher rushed determinedly forwards, but Sea Rouge slammed into him and pushed him into some empty barges. Sunshine rushed to Little Ditcher's side. The crane attached his hook to side of Bluenose and Sunshine tied himself to Little Ditcher. Ten Cents rushed and tied himself to the barge.  
"Stop your plans and we'll let you go." Sea Rouge snarled.  
"I wouldn't be so sure of yourselves, laddies." Bluenose smirked and looked behind Ten Cents. They all looked and saw several naval tugs approaching them. Little Ditcher recognised them as the ones who had been part of the rescue team for the tramp steamer. All of them charged forwards. Two smashed into Ten Cents and pulled the barge away from him, one went for Sunshine and Little Ditcher, one took down Sea Rouge and one rescued Junior. Ten Cents and Sunshine exchanged worried glances.

***

Zorran heard the commotion and peered out from behind the docks and saw the naval tugs.  
"I wonder what's going on over there." He pondered aloud. Billy came out of his warehouse.  
"Where are Zip and Zug, and why aren't you minding the loading?" He boomed. Zorran jumped and turned around.  
"Zip and Zug went to look for more barges." He said confidently. The two switchers had left a while ago and were currently chugging a kilometre behind OJ.  
"I see." Billy said, rolling his mental eyes. "And my other question?"  
"Oh, I just heard a bit of a commotion over there, some naval tugs are doing something." Zorran explained.  
"That is not a good enough excuse, there could have been an accident." Billy scowled. "Stay by your barge for the rest of the unloading. I have to go and see if Sea Rouge is doing alright with the naval tugs." Zorran sighed and chugged back to the crane. Billy passed him and chugged out of the area. He then looked to make sure Zorran wasn't watching and heading up to the logging camp, picking up one of his explosive barges on the way.

OJ was busy working at the logging camp. Some of the logs had frozen together over night, which actually made his job a lot easier to move the joined together logs over towards the barges. He was rather annoyed about being stuck on this job. A small cruise liner was coming and the rest of the fleet was towing it in, leaving OJ to do Big Mac's logging job.  
"My engine would have been better off towing that darn liner in then having to come all the way up here." He mumbled as he tied more logs together. He was completely unaware of Zip and Zug hiding under a pier.  
"Look at the old fool, talking to himself." Zug chuckled.  
"He must be losing his mind." Zip added and the two laughed stupidly.  
"He'll probably leap right out of his structure when we speed up and pull those barges lose." Zug smiled. "And then we'll rush away and deny everything." Zip giggled.  
"So why does Zorran want us to do this again?" He asked.  
"Because the Starr's have too many contracts, we need some of them!" Zug replied, rolling his eyes.  
"But this one looks like hard work." Zip said, looking confused. "Why would Zorran want one where we actually have to work?"  
"I don't know dummy, ask him yourself." Zug spat. Zip looked hurt.  
"I thought you were my friend." He said sadly, and turned away. He didn't mind Zorran calling him a dummy, but Zip was a little sensitive when it came to his friends. Zug let out a silent sigh and turned around with him.  
"I am sorry Zip, please come ba-" He came up to Zip's side and froze. Zip was looking at barge that was right in front of them with some dynamite on it- and the fuse was lit. The two switchers looked at each other and than screamed loudly. OJ looked around for the source of the commotion just in time to see the barge explode. The force caused mounds of dirt to fly high into the air and an old tree shook violently and tipped over and hit something in the water.  
"What's going on over there?" He mumbled and hurried along. He passed through the barges, careful not to let any logs out, and then chugged over to the tree. Between the branches, he could see the figures of Zip and Zug, who were black from the explosion.  
"What are you two doing here?" OJ asked crossly. The switchers spluttered and exchanged looks.  
"They were trying to ruin your chances at the contract." They all turned to see Billy chugging towards them. The alligator tug had rushed here as fast as he could and had lit the dynamite and hidden in plain sight until it went off. OJ gasped and looked back at the switchers.  
"I'll be reporting this!" He snapped.  
"Your lucky I am not terminating your contract right now!" Billy hissed. Zip and Zug started shouting, but nothing was distinguishable due to the branches.  
"Take them away." OJ said to Billy, who smiled and went behind the tree and started to push it and it's captives back to Mittsville. OJ sighed as he went back to work.  
"I am getting too old for this."

The six naval tugs stood guard over the Star's, Sea Rouge and Little Ditcher. Bluenose and Junior prepared the area for the shooting. Nearby buildings were evacuated and all boats and trains were forbidden from entering the area. The naval tugs had seen Billy leaving the warehouses early and thought no one else would be there, so Zorran remained.  
"As no one was seriously damaged," Bluenose said suddenly as he worked. "You will only get a light punishment. I thought making you watch your precious water tower go up in flames would be torture enough." And he let out a booming laugh. Junior and the Naval tugs all laughed as well. Sunshine let out a silent sob and Sea Rouge's face changed to an ugly, angry look. Bluenose and Junior were about to start the countdown when they heard more chugging. They looked around as Billy and his "captives" came in.  
"What's going on over there?" He called and came towards them.  
"This is a restricted area, Shoepack, leave now." Junior cried.  
"I know that, why are they held hostage?" Billy asked, looking towards his friends.  
"Not the time for questions." Bluenose growled. "Escort the alligator away." Two of the naval tugs left the hostage area and went for Billy.  
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving. I'll go reprimand Zorran about these two." And he went towards the munitions warehouses.  
"BILLY, the warehouses are restricted at the moment while we do our duties." Bluenose said sternly. Billy came to a halt. The tree continued to float away.  
"Now Zip, flee!" Zug cried and started to force their way out of the branches. They started to spin around due to their different positions. Zip broke free and rushed too far forwards and smashed into Bluenose. The two naval tugs rushed to stop Zug while another two went to get Zip. Sea Rouge saw his chance. He charged forwards and slammed the tug in front of him into another and forced the two against the docks, leaving holes in both of them. Three more tugs approached him. Sea Rouge charged forwards and burst through them. He pushed past Zip and came up to the barge and hit it, making it spin around so it faced the munitions factory. Then, Sea Rouge tied himself to it and charged forwards. Billy freed Zug as Zorran approached them.  
"I recommend we all move, I know when a gun is about to go off." Billy boomed and took the two Z-Stacks away as Sea Rouge headed towards the town's entrance. The naval tugs all smashed into him and the gun set off. The barge had moved when Sea Rouge was hit and the bullets now zoomed towards the munitions factory. Billy let out a screech of terror as the bullets smashed through the wall and towards the crates of fireworks and ammunition. The whole warehouse exploded in a multi-coloured ball of flame. The force knocked over the ancient crane and the ammunitions in the Z-Stacks barges exploded as well, causing part of the docks to blow up as well. Everyone looked in awe as the wooden building collapsed to the ground and some lone fireworks exploded into the sky.

A few hours later, the area was abuzz with action. The Fire Tug had arrived and doused the flames caused by the explosion. Billy was now sadly docked by the destroyed building and looked around at the scorched trees that had been hit. OJ had come down and was helping Little Ditcher salvage the sunk naval tugs. The Coast Guard was there and was reading out a list of offences that Sea Rouge was being arrested for. Ten Cents and Sunshine stood back, watching as Puffa's trusty truck had steel unloaded from it for the water tower, which had remained standing through the course of the day. They watched the Coast Guard finish talking and move away to talk to Bluenose and they rushed forwards.  
"Are you going to jail?" Sunshine asked sadly.  
"Yep, should be sunk by the end of next year." Sea Rouge replied. "For sinking two naval tugs, attacking several naval tugs, attempting to steal naval weaponry and they are trying to pin the munitions warehouses exploding on me."  
"Oh dear…" Ten Cents said solemnly, at a loss for words.  
"I was hoping to just take the gun and hide it until they agreed to cancel the shooting, so at least my plan kind of worked out." Sea Rouge said, looking up at the water tower. Ten Cents and Sunshine stayed there in silence, at a loss for words, but Sea Rouge knew they were sad and cared. Three naval ocean-going tugs with guns above their cabs approached Sea Rouge and attached ropes to him.  
"Goodbye Ten Cents, Goodbye Sunshine." Sea Rouge said, managing a small smile.  
"Goodbye Sea Rouge." The switchers said together and the watched as he was taken away. OJ then came over.  
"Come on you two, I better take you home before the fog beats us there." He said softly. The switchers obediently went with him, leaving the chaos behind.

***

The naval prison had no name. Within the navy, it was referred to as "The Royal Naval Prison of Bigg City", though boats simply called it Hell. It was built inside a large cave on a small island twenty kilometres away from Up Town where ships didn't go to due to the nasty rocks nearby. The cells are made up of thick layers of steel that is impossible to break through and makes it difficult to breathe in the cell. The prison was more of less a dumping ground for arrested boats and tramp steamers waiting till they were sunk by the navy. They usually left them there for a while so they would go mad due to the intense darkness and loneliness. Twenty ocean-going tugs, like the ones escorting Sea Rouge, worked there: eight guarding the entrance, six patrolling inside and six at different points around the outside, making breakout impossible. Sea Rouge had a bit of a breakdown as they approached and started to cry, making the naval tugs laugh at him.  
"Don't feel so tough now, do you fella?" One sneered.  
"They'll probably shot your several times above the hull for sinking two of ours." Another chuckled.  
"Then they'll blast you and your eye patch to smithereens!" The last one said and they all burst out laughing. Sea Rouge sniffled. They passed the deadly rocks and the guards before entering the prison. It was pitch black in here but the naval tugs had lamps to light the way.  
"We don't have any room, so you can go in here for the time being." The first one grunted.  
"Enjoy the dark, scum." The second one smiled and Sea Rouge was pushed inside a spacious cell and the door closed. It took a little bit for his eyes to adjust to the light, then he could get the outline of a tramp steamer.  
"H-H-hello." Sea Rouge spluttered, gasping for breath. The tramp steamer floated over to Sea Rouge.  
"Nice eyepatch, I need one of those." He chuckled with an accent Sea Rouge didn't recognise.  
"I'm S-Sea Rouge, who are you?" The tramp steamer laughed loudly.  
"Surprised you haven't heard of me, the name's Johnny Cuba." He explained. "I've being waiting for a room mate for a while."  
"Why's that?" Sea Rouge asked nervously.  
"Because," The Australian said, smiling. "Your going to help me get out of here."


	3. Sabotage: Part 1

Sabotage

Munitions play an important role in the Bigg City area. The explosives they provide are used by the Big Boulder Company to blast rocks that are used for building. They are also used to blast away blockages, such as landslides or a ship that has jammed a river. And they make all of the ammunition needed by the navy when at battle. It is important everything runs smoothly. However, a slight mishap with a gun barge, the old warehouse had blown up. Puffa the steam train brought a long train of new ammunition and supplies to rebuild the warehouses. A new contract was up for grabs and both Star Tugs and Z-Stacks were desperate to get it.

November 11th 1923  
The Star Tugs were usually awake early, and even on a cold winters day it was no different. Top Hatt was collecting Frank and Eddie, Ten Cents was picking up Lord Stinker and OJ and Sunshine were towing in several tramp steamers. Big Mac and Warrior, however, were having a nice sleep in.  
"I am so glad I don't have to start early today." Warrior mumbled sleepily. "Rubbish always smells worse at dawn."  
"Don't talk, it's distracting." Big Mac grunted. The two were silent and still for several more minutes until….  
"ARE YOU TWO STILL NOT UP!" A voice yelled from above. The two awoke with a start and banged into each other. Captain Starr's megaphone was pointed straight at them.  
"You two may be doing a contract job today, but a sleep in isn't necessary!" Captain Starr's voice boomed from the megaphone.  
"I am very sorry Captain Starr." Big Mac said.  
"Yeah, sorry Captain." Warrior added, though it ended with a yawn.  
"This is a very high paying contract so do not stuff up. Especially you Warrior, I think Bigg City has had enough munitions explosions for one decade." Captain Starr chuckled. Big Mac laughed as well.  
"I'll make sure he gets tied down loads." Warrior shot his brother a grumpy look.  
"I am not that bad." Big Mac just chuckled.  
"Come on then, let's go beat the Z-Stacks."

***

Meanwhile, next door to the Star Docks, Captain Zero was talking to Zorran, Zebedee and Zak.  
"I am very frustrated that our contract was cancelled." Captain Zero began. "However, this job pays very well and we need it to keep our business afloat."  
"Yes sir." The three harbour tugs replied.  
"Hercules, Big Mac and Warrior will be your competitors. Taking out Warrior will be easy, but to get rid of Big Mac and Hercules, I want you three to do so at any means necessary."  
"Oh, I always love some good sabotage." Zak croaked.  
"Keep your voice down, the goody-goodies are right next door." Zorran growled. Zak flushed and looked away.  
"The Brothers Grimm are leaving, so get going and make sure you bring home that contract!" Captain Zero ordered.

Hercules was the biggest tugboat in Bigg City. His main job was guiding in cruise ships and other large vessels to the area before they were towed in, though he sometimes took supplies out to ships at sea if they were running low. He didn't do much work in port unless there was an important job. Due to the bad weather, most supplies were now coming in by train and Hercules had been ordered to stay within port limits to avoid any damages. The ocean goer grew tired of routine jobs and was glad for a chance to do some exciting work. He arrived early at a small dockyard near the Up River river. Billy was there with eighteen barges full of dynamite.  
"Hello there darling." Hercules said with a toothy smile as he approached.  
"Hello Hercules." Billy replied. "It's good to see you."  
"Same. The only thing I don't like about going out to see is that I usually don't have much company." Hercules sighed. "When I do, it's either cruise ships blabbering on about breaking a window or large tramp steamers talking about some sea storm that always seems to begin with "It was the worst storm I've ever seen in my life" and then end with some magical heroic act." Billy chuckled as he moved the barges into place.  
"So, are we just doing a delivery?" Hercules inquired.  
"In a way." Billy replied. "Each tug is taking three barges with a variety of different loads to the Big Boulder Company and the Naval Reserve. My boss wants to see how smooth you are with the loads and wheter anything falls off." As Billy finished, Big Mac and Warrior arrived and said their hello's.  
"We'll just wait for the Z-Stacks and then you can all go." Billy smiled.  
"We're already here so let's get this thing started." A voice sneered. The four tugs turned to see the Z-Stacks approaching.  
"No need to get snippy darling." Hercules said smoothly.  
"Oh put a sock in it Hercules." Zak growled.  
"This contract is rightfully ours and we are going to get it back." Zebedee said.  
"Calm down you lot!" Billy ordered and moved in between the two teams. "Collect your barges and once you are tied to them you may leave."  
"I'd love to wipe that smirk of Zorran's face." Big Mac growled as he tied himself to the barges.  
"Now now darling, let's just focus on delivering these loads." Hercules said.  
"I hope we get there in one piece." Warrior moaned. "They are bound to play some dirty tricks."  
"That's not the right attitude." Hercules said as he gave Warrior a thoughtful look. "We are all tied up so let's just get this over with. The Z-Stacks aren't going to do anything."

"So boss, what are we going to do to them?" The Z-Stacks were huddled together away from Billy and the Star's.  
"Isn't it obvious doofus." Zorran snarled at Zebedee. "It's munitions, which we all know are highly explosive. So, we make their loads exploded."  
"Ok, why don't we go get Bluenose, he's a master at this." Zak sniggered. Zorran turned and rammed Zak against a nearby bank.  
"There's no time for dumb jokes. Once we are out of sight, you will take one of the barges and blow up their loads." Zorran said viciously.  
"And what if they get blown up?" Zebedee asked.  
"Even better."

Old Rusty was an ex-Naval tramp steamer. He used to be called Rusty and had been used to collect and deliver supplies to naval ships at sea. Once he got to old he was made to retire and was anchored at some rocks by an estuary. He was going to be sunk but it was cancelled at the last minute and he was left to rust. Most visiting boats assumed he was scrap and left him alone, which Old Rusty found amusing and he spent his time watching what tugs, tramp steamers and other vessels did when no one was watching.  
Today, he was shivering as the cold wintery breeze blew through his shattered portholes.  
"I hate this spot." He grumbled to himself. "No one around for miles, bloody seagulls pooping all over my deck and the worst weather in the whole area, it is bloody ridiculous!" He fell silent and looked around as if to prove his point to the seagulls that no one was around. However, he looked around and saw another tramp steamer coming in from the ocean.  
"Well look what the tide washed up! Bloody foreigners!" Old Rusty groaned. Old Rusty may seem like a bit of a grump, but he is kind at heart and has become a bit grumpy from being in the same spot for five years. The "bloody foreigner" was none other than Izzy Gomez.  
"Aye, why do you always have to be so mean to me." Izzy groaned as he idled up alongside.  
"Because you are always sneaking into this port and I won't allow!" Old Rusty croaked.  
"Aye aye aye, I just want to unload my bananas and go home." Izzy sighed and he charged forwards. Old Rusty smirked. Izzy noticed this and looked at the rusted tramp steamer.  
"Why are you smirk-" Izzy never finished his sentence as he ran into a sandbank he had failed to notice. Old Rusty laughed loudly as Izzy tried and failed to get out, but then he had a coughing fit and merely chuckled instead  
"Oh shut up!" Izzy groaned as the water sloshed against his side.  
"Don't worry, I think the seagulls will go get help." Old Rusty chuckled.

***

Zak cautiously travelled through the Bigg City waterways. The three Z-Stacks had split up: Zorran was taking three to the Big Boulder company, Zebedee was taking two to the Naval Reserve and Zak was left with the large barge and the task of sabotaging the Star Tugs. He was very nervous about doing this, as if it backfired he would lose the contract, could get arrested and sunk, or even worse, feel Zorran and Captain Zero's wrath. Slowly, Zak edged his way past Lucky's Yard, looking around for the three Star's he was sure he had seen come down her a second ago.  
"Hello Zak." Came a voice. Zak cried out in shock and looked around. Sally Seaplane was boobing on the water.  
"Sorry if I scared you." She giggled.  
"I am not scared." Zak huffed importantly. Sally rolled her eyes.  
"So, what brings you around here?" She asked, eyeing the munitions.  
"Oh, I was… um… looking for… um… the Star Tugs." Zak said, before cursing under his breathe.  
"Why do you need to find them?" Sally inquired.  
"I…um…they…um…left a munitions barge behind! For the…um… contract challenge thingy." Zak spluttered. "Billy made me deliver it to them."  
"Interesting." Sally said suspiciously. "Well, I saw Hercules pass by a few minutes ago, and then Big Mac and Warrior followed him but cut through the warehouses down there."  
"Thanks very much Sally." Zak smiled and he chugged away. Sally waited till Zak was out of sight before whirring away to find Billy.

Bigg City was usually calm weather wise around noon, when things had heated up and the clouds lightened in colour. Things were peaceful near the river and Billy could hear Sally whirring as he chugged back up the river to do a delivery but was shocked when the seaplane came up alongside him, her floats sending waves against his side.  
"Watch it, my barge might capsize." Billy huffed.  
"I'm sorry, but I think that the Z-Stacks are up to something." Sally said in a hushed voice.  
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Zip and Zug were doing…"  
"It's not them, I am talking about the others." And Sally quickly explained what had happened with Zak.  
"I didn't tell him to take any barges to the Stars!" Billy gasped when she had finished. "This sounds pretty dodgy to me. What do you think we should do?"  
"I will go and look for the Coastguard; you go and contact your owner." Sally explained. "That way he can cancel the contract."  
"Good idea. Good luck with the Coastguard." Billy smiled. Sally smiled back as she turned around and prepared for takeoff.

"I told you we weren't going the right way." Big Mac huffed. "The Big Boulder Company is that way." He turned to 90 degrees to his left.  
"Well sorry darling." Hercules huffed. "I am hardly ever in the port, I don't know my way around very well." Warrior laughed loudly until an evil glare from Hercules shut him up.  
"Well we better or the Z-Stacks might beat us." Big Mac sighed.  
"How exactly did they beat us last time?" Hercules asked. Big Mac looked at Warrior who flushed.  
"_Someone _didn't look where they were going and pushed all our barges when we were trying to tie them to OJ and they crashed into a jetty." Hercules laughed subtly.  
That is classic Warrior." He chuckled.  
"Thank you." Warrior said, beaming. A few metres away, Zak was hiding behind a schooner, rolling his eyes in distaste.  
"Warrior is such an idiot." He mumbled to himself. He then looked around to see if his trap was set. He had pushed his barge between a dock and a warehouse and had placed several empty barges between himself and the explosives and would use them as a battering ram and push the barge into the Stars.  
"I am such a genius." Zak said to himself.  
"Quiet you." The schooner huffed. Zak was startled by this and jumped slightly. The schooner chuckled. Zak glared at him before moving back into position and listening carefully, peering through cracks in the warehouses walls to see the Stars so he could get them at the right time…  
In the sky, Sally was flying around the Bigg City skies, looking for the Coastguard. She dived down lower after seeing a small white boat, but then saw Zak and the barges, then the Stars.  
"Oh my goodness!" Sally shrieked. She realised there wasn't time to get the Coastguard. The Stars were close to the munitions barge and within a minute they could be history…

As the Stars edged closer, Sally knew there was only one thing she could do.  
"MY ENGINE HAS DIED!" She screamed. The three Stars stopped, metres away from the barge. Sally screamed again as she dived downwards, pulling off a move her old mentor used to use to scare ferries. She turned away from the Stars and dived down towards Zak. The Z-Stack bellowed girlishly and charged forwards to escape the plummeting seaplane. He smashed into the battering ram barges and realised he had stuffed up. The three empty barges all turned on their sides and turned into a huge block that smashed into the munitions barge.  
"Oh bugger." Zak cursed. The munitions barge was smashed up against the dock and the loads inside exploded under the pressure. A ball of orange flame erupted from it, obliterating the empty barges, blasting a hole in the warehouse and taking a chunk of the dock as well. A dozen waves were formed and they shot out in all directions.  
"Take the loads!" Hercules cried as he turned onto his side and became a barricade, stopping the waves from washing away the precious goods. Zak, meanwhile, screamed as several waves smashed him against the warehouses, jettys and then the schooner. The force of Zak and the waves pushed the schooner and Zak was sent back into the canal.  
"Look, it's Zak!" Warrior gasped.  
"This had Z-Stacks written all over it." Big Mac growled. Sally smiled triumphantly and circled over Zak.  
"I am going to get the Coastguard. You, Zorran and Zebedee are in serious trouble!" She growled before she zoomed away. Zak gulped and then looked over at the angry Stars.  
"Come here you little swine!" Big Mac hissed and Zak squealed, turned and ran away. The three Stars laughed.  
"Nice one darling. Now, lets win this contract." Hercules beamed.


	4. Sabotage: Part 2

Away from all of the chaos, Zorran was triumphantly pulling into the Big Boulder Company.  
"Hello there Zorran." The manager called out.  
"Hello sir. I have your dynamite here, every bit accountable!" Zorran said smiling.  
"You're the first one here, congratulations."  
"Why thank you sir." Zorran said in his most oily voice. He started to push his barges towards a row of barges belonging to the quarry. He was unaware that they were being loaded up with rocks by a conveyor belt. He was too busy thinking about going home to the Zero Dock and laughing at the destroyed Stars and claiming their rightful contract back.  
"Zorran, watch out!" The manager cried. But Zorran's twisted mind was in the clouds. He pushed his barges right into those being loaded.  
"ZORRAN YOU FOOL!" The manager cried. Zorran came back down to Earth and saw what he had done.  
"AAAARRRRGGGHHH!" He screamed and quickly untied himself from the first barge. The manager had managed to stop the conveyor belt, but there were several rocks that looked like they would topple into the barge at any moment. Zorran backed cautiously away.  
"I think things will be safe." He said, smiling nervously.  
Then the rocks fell.  
For the second time in under an hour, Bigg City was strike by an explosion. This time there were three barges and they all exploded one after another. The conveyer belt was blasted to bits, along with the loaded rock barges and a quarter of the dock. Rocks were sent flying everywhere and the only things around to hit were Zorran and the manager.  
"ZORRAN!" The manager screamed as rocks smashed his office. Zorran looked at the destruction as orange flames danced on the docks before a huge wave pushed him away.  
"Can't fight the current!" Zorran called back before turning around and speeding away.

The naval reserve was on the edge of Bigg City. It was surrounded by lots of breakwaters that also served as protection if someone tried to fire a torpedo at them. Many sandbanks were around the area as well. Zebedee was hiding between two with barely enough room to pass. His munitions barges were tied to an old breakwaters post behind him. The Z-Stack was mainly watching the Coastguard. He heard the two explosions and was hoping that he would be called to deal with them, leaving Zebedee to rush past with one barge less and then escape before the Navy noticed. Then, Sally Seaplane soared down from the skies and landed next to the Coastguard, spraying him with water.  
"Sally, do you have any idea about what caused the explosions?" The Coastguard asked.  
"Zak caused the first one while trying to sabotage the Star Tugs. I believe the second one came from around the quarry and I saw Zorran fleeing from the scene." Sally explained.  
"I knew that this would have Z-Stacks involved somehow." The Coastguard hissed.  
"Bugger." Zebedee groaned, but he said it a little too loudly.  
"Who goes there?" The Coastgaurd cried.  
"Bugger." Zebedee cursed again. He quickly tried to reverse, but he turned to soon and got his back end stuck in one of the sandbanks.  
"Show yourself!" The Coastguard ordered as he started to navigate his way through the sandbanks. Sally hovered overhead.  
"It's Zebedee!" She exclaimed. "And he has some of the munitions!"  
"Damn you seaplanes." Zebedee growled. He tried to move again but turned right and know had both ends wedged into sand.  
"Ah, I love it when they trap themselves." The Coastguard chuckled when he arrived. "Sally, would you mind going to get back up?"  
"Certainly." Sally smiled. She turned to head for the naval base but in near distance she saw something rather odd happening.  
"Coastguard, looks like an old friend has shown up again." Sally smirked.  
"Oh really, let me guess, it's…" The Coastguard froze as he had heard something strange. He looked around and saw…  
"Hello Coastguard." Zorran smirked. "I see my colleague has gotten himself jammed. Thanks for watching the merchandise, but I think I'd best be off delivering this now. Ta ta." He turned away with the barges tied behind him.  
"You stop right there!" The Coastguard ordered. But Zorran quickly sped off.  
"If you try and catch me I'll blast you to bits!" Zorran growled. The Coastguard still followed.  
"Idiot." Zebedee growled.  
"Who, Zorran or the Coastguard?" Sally asked, glaring at the tug. She looked back towards the ocean and decided to get the backup.

"Can you please be quiet, you are making my head hurt."  
"I don't take orders from foreigners like you! Bloody ignorance."  
"Aye aye aye, you are so mean."  
Izzy and Old Rusty had been arguing for hours. Due to the drama happening in the port, nobody was focusing on tow-ins at the time so Izzy would probably be stuck in the sandbank until next morning.  
"If you hadn't been acting so bloody cheap, you wouldn't be in this mess!" Old Rusty huffed. Just then, Sally soared down from the skies and skidded across the water.  
"Izzy, we need your help." Sally said as she came to a halt and sprayed them all with water.  
"Oh thank you kind seaplane, I'll do anything as long as I get away from here." Izzy said smiling.  
"His help? HIS help?" Old Rusty fumed.  
"Sorry Rusty, but you are anchored and Izzy will be easier to get going." Sally explained, suddenly feeling guilty. Old Rusty felt a bit ashamed.  
"Ah well, at least he'll be gone." He huffed. Sally smiled and then floated in the air. She used her right float and nudged Izzy until he was able to reverse himself out of the sandbank.  
"So, what exactly do you need me for?" Izzy asked as he followed Sally back to Bigg City.  
"Oh, just a small problem with the Z-Stacks." Sally replied, rolling her eyes. Old Rusty watched as they left, feeling rather sad about being looked over for a job.  
"Bloody foreigners."

Zorran raced through the sandbanks, being careful to avoid the bigger ones, and keeping his eye on the prize.  
"We have already lost four barges, I must deliver these ones!" He muttered to himself. He swerved to avoid a washed-up dinghy but turned right into more of the old breakwaters. Zorran swerved to avoid one but his barges came loose and floated behind him. Zorran stopped and turned around just as the Coastguard appeared. He swerved to avoid the dinghy but saw the posts and swerved left but had to turn sharply to avoid hitting the barges, only to turn to avoid a sandbank. The speedboat spun out of control and Zorran charged and slammed him into a sandbank.  
"Sorry I can't stay and chat, but I have some work to do." Zorran sneered. He moved towards his barges and went to tie himself back to them, but he was suddenly hit by a wave.  
"What the-" He coughed. He turned and saw Sally turning around to come back and splash him again.  
"Bloody metal pigeon!" Zorran roared and quickly moved out of the way. Sally's left wing smashed into the breakwaters.  
"Bugger." She cursed. "Izzy, get him!" She turned and saw Izzy racing away.  
"Sorry Sally, but I have to unload my bananas." Izzy called. He smirked when he finished and quickly hurried into port.  
"Mexican prick!" Sally yelled. Zorran laughed loudly and headed towards Zebedee.  
"What about the munitions?" Zebedee asked as Zorran approached.  
"You seriously think we have any chance of winning?" Zorran snapped. He managed to pull Zebedee free of the sandbanks and the two raced towards the port.  
"You can't get away from me!" Sally shouted. She propelled herself forwards but was unable to get back into the air making negotiating the sandbanks very difficult. Izzy and the Zs were having the same trouble.  
"I hate these sandbanks. The only thing they are good for is trapping Stars." Zebedee said and the two sniggered.  
"Don't worry, we'll find our way out. I doubt that Miss Sally Wide-wings will fit through." Zorran chuckled. The two came out through two sandbanks and smashed straight into Izzy Gomez.  
"Oh great, it's you." Zorran growled.  
"I can't believe I got stuck in another sandbank." Izzy moaned.  
"Your in our way, move!" Zorran said viciously.  
"He's stuck, he can't." Zebedee snapped, rolling his eyes. Izzy glared at Zorran and started cursing him in Spanish.  
"Oh let's just find another way out." Zorran sighed.  
"Not so fast!" The two Z-Stacks turned to find the Coastguard, covered in sand, and several naval speedboats surrounding them.  
"You two are under arresting as accessories in the attempted assassination of Hercules, Big Mac and Warrior of the Star Tug Fleet." The Coastguard said smugly. "And you can expect something extra for evading the law, and possible fines from the Big Boulder Company and Bigg City Seaplanes for the damages caused." Zorran and Zebedee glowered as the speedboats came for the damages caused." Zorran and Zebedee glowered as the speedboats took them away. The Coastguard then turned to Izzy.  
"I would list the charge, but you should know it of by heart by now." He chuckled.  
"Aye aye aye." Was all Izzy could muster.

Sally was very tired by the time she got back to Lucky's Yard. She had to come back in through Bigg City's main entrance and felt like she was about to explode. Hercules was heading home and helped her for the last few metres.  
"So, it seems that you had quite the adventure today." Hercules smiled.  
"Yes." Sally wheezed. "I'm surprised I have any fuel left with all the work I've done. Zorran and Zebedee would have gotten away if those naval speedboats didn't arrive."  
"Well, you'll be pleased to hear that Zak was caught as well. Though they are horrible cretins, they still have important jobs so I expect they just be fined a lot of money and let go." Hercules sighed.  
"That is rather unfair." Sally huffed.  
"Darling, I wouldn't agree." Hercules smirked. Sally was puzzled so he elaborated. "I believe that the only thing worse for those three than going to jail will be facing Captain Zero's wrath. Their plans backfired which meant they lost the contract so Captain Zero might not have enough money to pay for the damages. I expect that's why they were so desperate to evade the law."  
"Zak did seem nervous earlier on." Sally said. "So, do you think he was nervous about stuffing up?"  
"Preciously m'dear. They may act tough but I doubt the Z-Stacks are as macho as they make out to be." Hercules guided Sally into Lucky's Yard before bidding her farewell and heading off, leaving the seaplane with a lot to think about.


	5. Neptune: Part 1

Neptune

Whenever winter rolled around, it wasn't only the snow and bitter temperatures that came along with it. Rain, winds and bad sea storms were also a common addition to the winter line-up. Tugboats work whatever the weather and the Star Tugs are usually happy to work in bad conditions as they are doing it to make money. However, there is the occasional bad storm when windows are boarded up, private boats are rushed in doors and anyone who dares to venture outside of their docks is in for a nasty surprise…

November 20th 1923  
It was midday and Bigg City was in panic. Ten metre high waves were crashing against the breakwaters and Dender Rocks and they were expected to get bigger. The winds were strong enough to blow over several cranes and many warehouses were losing their roofs  
The Star Tugs and Grampus were all at Star Dock, waiting for instructions from Captain Starr.  
"The cruise liner Neptune is on its maiden voyage and he is currently travelling around twenty kilometres outside of Bigg City. He is expected to come into port before the huge storm comes but you never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at us." Captain Starr explained.  
"Hang on a minute, are we expected to dock a huge cruise liner in the middle in one of the worst storms in a century?" Top Hatt gasped.  
"I mean no disrespect sir, but I don't think us eight will be able to handle it!" OJ said, his voice shaking.  
"Well actually, Ten Cents and Sunshine are needed to Lord Lucky to a warehouse." Captain Starr explained.  
"What about me sir?" Grampus asked.  
"I would prefer if you stayed in docks today Grampus." Captain Starr replied.  
"A wave might sink you." Warrior said.  
"I am meant to be able to sink." Grampus snapped. Warrior blushed as the others laughed.  
"Sir, five of us won't be able to control Neptune in this weather." Hercules said.  
"There will actually be ten of you." Captain Starr retorted. The tugs froze before Top Hatt scoffed.  
"You mean the Z-Stacks? Oh joy." He groaned.  
"You do remember they tried to sink us recently?" Big Mac grumbled.  
"I know, I know, but this is a very important job. And the Neptune will give us back feedback on who did the better job and that person will get the contract."  
"At least we're getting a contract." Top Hat grumbled.  
"Ten Cents, Sunshine, you two need to head off now. Lord Lucky is waiting up at Mittsville." Captain Starr explained.  
"We'll get there as quick as possible." Ten Cents beamed.  
"And be careful, Zip and Zug are doing deliveries and they are bound to stuff up." Captain Starr added, chuckling.  
"Don't worry sir; we won't let them be a nuisance." Ten Cents said and the two switchers turned and started off.  
"What if Zorran has told those two to do something stupid?" Sunshine asked.  
"We'll deal with that at the time." Ten Cents replied. As the switchers left, Captain Starr turned to his other five tugs.  
"You lot head off now as well." He ordered. The tugs all turned and headed towards Dender Rocks.  
"I know you aren't pleased about working with the Z-Stacks, but let's get past that and win this contract!" Hercules boomed.  
"Yeah yeah." Big Mac sighed. As they left the dock, it started to rain. Grampus watched as his team mates chugged away.  
"Sir, I am just going for a little underwater stroll." The submarine called out. "The more beautiful fish come out in this weather." Captain Starr chuckled.  
"Sure thing Grampus, but make sure you come back when the weather starts to get rough."  
"Aye aye sir!" Grampus replied and he dived underwater and smiled at his Captain's gullibility.

Lord Lucky is a large Irish steamship who takes tourists and workers between Bigg City, Mittsville and Uptown. He carries hundreds of people at once and has great navigational skills… but he's blind. When he was doing test runs, Lord Lucky was struck by lightning and lost his sight but survived and has been able to navigate using sound and the movement of the water. He is good friends with the Star Tugs as they help to guide in certain situations.  
Today he was resting near the mouth to Up River. He could hear the thunder and rain loudly and smiled as they were his favourite sounds. He then heard the sound of water sloshing and the chug of two tugboats.  
"Top of the morning to you both." Lord Lucky called as Ten Cents and Sunshine came near.  
"It's freaky how you do that." Sunshine chuckled.  
"You have to master all your senses to do it." Lord Lucky replied.  
"Well, shall we get started then?" Ten Cents called.  
"Certainly, I'd like to move before the rain comes down." Lord Lucky grinned.  
"I want to move before Zip and Zug do something stupid." Sunshine muttered.  
"Stop going on about it!" Ten Cents snapped. Sunshine sighed and went onto Lord Lucky's left side and the two started off.  
Lurking behind some disused barges, Zip and Zug watched the three leave.  
"Why exactly did we bring a fire barge?" Zip asked quietly  
"I am not sure, Zorran said to work it out for ourselves." Zug replied.  
"That's not very helpful." Zip said.  
"Oh shut up! We have to move before we lose them." Zug snapped and the two moved out and chugged slowly behind Ten Cents, Sunshine and Lord Lucky.

The other Star Tugs were waiting at Dender Rocks with Lillie Lightship, the rain drizzling around them/  
"Are you sure you'll be ok in this weather darling?" Hercules asked.  
"Of course I will sweetie." Lillie giggled.  
"Oh get a room." Top Hat mumbled and Warrior and Big Mac sniggered.  
"Keep your foul attitude to yourself Top Hat!" OJ snapped. Top Hat extended his head and looked down at OJ.  
"I should be allowed to be grumpy, working with the Z-Slime." The railway tug huffed.  
"This is an important contract and I am not letting your mood ruin it." OJ growled.  
"Take it easy you two, leave your angry for the Z's." Big Mac boomed.  
"You boys are all so silly when it comes to these contracts." Lillie sighed.  
"But contracts are important, we need the money." Big Mac replied.  
"You're a lady, you wouldn't understand." Warrior retorted. Lillie growled and shone her light at Warrior.  
"I may be a lady but I don't appreciate that sort of talk!" She snapped.  
"Calm down darlings, I believe our friend is here." Hercules said with a smile. They all looked to see a large blue and black cruise ship approaching them. The rain started to pour down heavily as it approached.  
"I seem to be a bad weather charm." Neptune boomed down to them.  
"Oh great, bad weather and the Z's aren't here yet!" Top Hat groaned.  
"Keep your monocle on, we're here." They all turned to see Zorran, Zebedee and Zak coming in.  
"Ok everyone, let's get to our stations." Hercules called and the eight tugs moved forwards.  
"Good luck!" Lillie called. "You'll need it." She added under her breath.

Neptune slowly lowered down ropes for the eight to attach themselves to. The Z-Stacks on one side, Big Mac, Warrior and Top Hat on the other with Hercules leading the way and OJ at the back for extra support. The eight slowly moved into Bigg City as the rain and snow pelted down and high waves and strong winds smashed into them. Over the noise of the storm, Zorran spoke to his team.  
"We need to make sure we get the contract." He called. "In order to do so, we need to slowly eliminate the Stars."  
"How are we going to do that without making it seem suspicious?" Zak croaked.  
"Zebedee, you get rid of the old codger first." Zorran yelled. Zebedee turned to see OJ struggling against the waves.  
"It'll be a piece of cake. He'll probably knock himself out and save me the bother." He sniggered.  
"Once he's out of the way we'll try and get rid of the others." Zorran explained.  
"But their on the other side of the bloody boat!" Zak gasped.  
"How are we going to get them?" Zebedee asked gobsmacked. Zorran chuckled and looked away.  
"You just leave that part to me."

The storm wasn't as bad heading up river, but the wind was still making it difficult for Ten Cents, Sunshine and Lord Lucky to stay on course and twice they nearly hit rocks.  
"Come on you two, it'll be Christmas if we keep going at this rate." Lord Lucky chuckled.  
"You're not exactly very easy to move you know." Ten Cents grunted as he pushed Lord Lucky to avoid hitting a rock.  
"Precisley!" Sunshine mumbled. "You could try and help us." Lord Lucky laughed.  
"I am not that good when it comes to this nasty weather. I do remember one time a few years ago…"  
"NO SEA STORIES!" Ten Cents yelled. Lord Lucky turned his head towards Ten Cents and raised an eyebrow above his milky eyes.  
"That was a rather unnecessary outburst." The steamship huffed.  
"Sorry, it's just these galleons I towed last night kept going on about old sea storms." Ten Cents said apologetically. Lord Lucky chuckled.  
"No rotting old galleon can top a story by me! It was 1920 and I was heading to Bigg City. Every ticket had been purchased and I could feel the weight of passengers…"  
As Ten Cents sighed and Sunshine chuckled, Zip and Zug continued to move slowly behind them.  
"Can't we just hit them now?" Zip asked.  
"No!" Zug hissed quietly. "We must wait until I worked out what we need this fire barge for!" As they rounded a bend, Zug's eyes suddenly widened and he turned to Zip and winked.


	6. Neptune: Part 2

As the storm got worse and worse, Neptune started to rock more and the eight tugs were struggling to keep him sturdy.  
"Move away from him a bit in case he capsizes." Hercules called back.  
"Shouldn't we worry more about keeping him upright?" Zorran sneered.  
"Darling, we're doing the bloody best that we can. If you have a problem, complain to your chums." Hercules snapped.  
"Nice one boss." Warrior chuckled. Zorran growled with fury and began to talk quietly to the others.  
"Zebedee, your main task is to make sure OJ will be in position for when we strike." He hissed.  
"How exactly should I do that?" Zebedee asked. Zorran sighed and Zak chuckled under his breath.  
"Do whatever you think is needed for us to win one!" Zorran snapped back. Zebedee rolled his eyes and moved backwards. He looked around and saw OJ floating behind the others and could see that the waves were pushing Neptune towards the Z-Stacks. The harbour tug smiled as an idea flew into his stack.  
"I know what to do!" Zebedee whispered to Zak.  
"Well it better be good, I don't think Zorran will be pleased if it backfires." Zak said back in a hushed voice.  
"Don't worry, it'll work." Suddenly, Zebedee cried out and set of his hooter.  
"I think I hit something!" He shouted back to OJ. "Can you come and take over?" The paddle tug looked towards him and began to chug over.  
"Darn waves." He huffed as he was pushed towards a breakwaters.  
"On the count of three." Zebedee said. OJ was moving slowly forwards….  
"One…" Neptune swayed slightly in the wind  
"Two…" OJ was too busy trying to stay oncourse than watching the Z-Stacks.  
"Three!" The three Zs gave Neptune a heave just a wave hit him on the other side. The Stars thought that it was the waves making them lose control and they tried to pull but the momentum got Neptune moving. OJ cried out as Neptune hit him and shoved him straight into a breakwater.  
"GET HIM UNDER CONTROL!" Hercules yelled.  
"WE'RE GIVING IT ALL WE'VE GOT CAPTAIN!" Big Mac yelled. Together the four Stars managed to control Neptune and avoided him crushing OJ. However, the old tug had had his paddles damaged on his left side.  
"I won't move in this weather!" He yelled.  
"Nice plan." Zorran mumbled from the corner of his mouth. Zebedee smiled; it was high praise coming from Zorran.

Though the weather was becoming increasingly vicious, Neptune said that he wanted to stop while they dealt with OJ. Hercules went to examine him while the other six held onto Neptune.  
"I am sorry Hercules." OJ said sadly.  
"It's not your fault darling, it's the weather." Hercules smiled. "You won't be much good to us now though."  
"I can make it back to Star Dock on my own." OJ said, smiling softly.  
"Not on my watch." A squeaky voice said.  
"Oh no, not the messenger." Zorran sighed. Hermes was the Coastguard's messenger and his main job was to bring information to ships or companies while the Coastguard was busy. Most tugs thought him unimportant and just called him messenger, but Hercules and OJ were polite to him.  
"My name is Hermes!" Hermes snapped. "I saw that Neptune was still and came go see what was wrong.  
"I'm surprised you can even see to our height." Zak said and the Z-Stacks sniggered loudly.  
"Ignore the idiot's darling. OJ has had an accident and needs to be escorted back to Star Dock." Hercules explained.  
"Glad to be of service!" Hermes smiled. "I recommend you take Neptune in soon though, the wind is very strong near the cruise ship dock." He tied himself to OJ and the two set off. As Hercules moved back to the front, Zorran turned to the others.  
"Is it just me, or did that little squirt say something useful for once?"

As the storm raged above sea, Grampus was battling his way towards Neptune underwater. It was difficult to move due to the water moving so violently and Grampus was losing his way.  
"Bloody weather." He snarled to himself. Grampus was glad to have left the Navy; Bluenose was always insulting him and the five larger submarines (Pacifica, Atlanta, Indiana, Arctic and Southren) always mocked him about his size and work. When he was told he had one last job to do, Grampus had been ecstatic until he found out that the 'last job' was to be the target in an ammunition test. If it hadn't been for the Star Tugs, he would be at the bottom of the ocean. So the midget submarine gladly went over to the Stars and had had an alright time there, even though he was sometimes undermined.  
"After today, everyone will remember me." He thought and looked up to see the hull of Neptune. Smiling, Grampus slowed down and now had to focus on staying on course.

Over the howling wind and rushing water, Lord Lucky looked around as he heard a new sound in the river.  
"I recommend we slow down, I think that there is about to be trouble." Lord Lucky announced.  
"What do you mean?" Ten Cents asked as he began to stop.  
"I can hear something being sprayed." Lord Lucky explained. The two switchers looked around and Sunshine looked up to see a jet of water being fired at the banks near them. The sound of the storm had drowned it out and made Zip and Zug's plan nearly work. The two Star switchers turned to see their rivals.  
"I think they can see us." Zip whispered. Zug rolled his eyes as Ten Cents turned and moved forwards.  
"Get out of here; you should have learnt that your ridiculous plans never work!" He growled.  
"Yeah… well… um…" Zug stuttered and then fired the water at Ten Cents, who spluttered and bobbed backwards and the Z Switchers turned to flee.  
"After them!" Lord Lucky growled. Ten Cents and Sunshine chased after but forgot they were still tied to Lord Lucky. The steamship looked around, puzzled, as he flew backwards down the river.  
"This isn't going to end well." Sunshine wailed. The current pushed them towards Zip and Zug and all three of them screamed as they approached a bend.  
"Can you hear something?" Zip asked. Zug looked around and screamed as well as Lord Lucky smashed into the two switchers and the momentum caused the steamship to push them into a muddy bank. Ten Cents and Sunshine managed to gain control and saw Zip and Zug's backs poking out of the bank.  
"I think that the score is now 1,000 to the Stars, 0 to you lot." Ten Cents smiled and Lord Lucky and Sunshine laughed as Zip and Zug cursed from inside the mud.  
Neptune's congregation were in port now and the team now had to dock Neptune safely so he wouldn't get damaged in the storm.

"We better hurry darlings, this storm is getting worse." Hercules yelled as Neptune rocked.  
"It's about to get a whole lot worse." Zorran chuckled and Zebedee and Zak laughed. Big Mac, Warrior and Top Hatt looked at the dock and saw that they had the tricky task of keeping Neptune steady while moving out in order to dock him without being crushed.  
"It's to start stretching boys; this is going to be a toughie." Big Mac yelled and the three began to move out.  
"We have to move fast if we want to knock those Stars out of the competition." Zorran mumbled.  
"How are we going to achieve that?" Zak asked.  
"Just push the stupid cruise ship!" Zorran shout-whispered. The three Z's started to push Neptune towards the dock.  
"It's a wave!" Zebedee yelled. "We can't fight it!"  
"Do your best!" Hercules screamed as he turned and saw that Big Mac, Warrior and Top Hatt were safely on the other side of the dock.  
"I am glad you three are safe!" Hercules called out.  
"I don't think we will be for much longer!" Top Hatt gasped. The tugs looked up and saw that the push was causing Neptune to tip.  
"He is going to capsize!" Warrior yelled. Zorran was urgently yelling at his team.  
"PULL BACK, PULL BACK!" He bellowed as their ropes stretched out and tightened. The three groaned as they tried to pull and Hercules quickly raced over with rope and tried to pull as well.  
"They aren't holding!" Zak groaned as his snapped and Neptune wobbled.  
"I'm losing mine!" Zebedee shouted and the four watched as the cruise ship began to tip over…  
Suddenly, ropes fell from the sky and landed onto Neptune. Hercules and the Z's looked and saw Sally had dropped the ropes that were attached to the Fire Tug and Coastguard as well as new ones for Zak and Zebedee.  
"How did you know?" Hercules laughed.  
"Grampus overheard the Z Stacks and used flares to bring us to him and we brought ropes and other supplies in case something happened." The Fire Tug said as he tied himself to his rope. Rather conveniently, Grampus than submerged and sprayed water into Zorran's face.  
"Reporting for duty!" He smiled as Sally dropped another rope for him. Hercules smiled and together the team heaved. Top Hat, Warrior and Big Mac came and were given ropes as well and even Sally joined in. They all heaved and pulled their ropes back as far as possible and finally Neptune began to rise up again.  
"And halt!" Hercules yelled and they all stopped pulling as Neptune balanced himself.  
"Well that was a close call!" Warrior chuckled.  
"Yes, rather." Zorran laughed. "Well I think we better be off now." The three Z's turned to leave but found themselves surrounded.  
"Your right, you'd better be off to my station." The Coastguard growled. Hermes than came up idled up and smiled deviously at Zorran.  
"I love it when the tide turns in my direction." He grinned and Zorran, Zak and Zebedee groaned loudly.

The next day the storm had subsided but it was still very cold. The tramp steamer that was bringing the coal for the tugs had sunk at sea so Grampus had been sent to do most of the work. He was heading out to collect Lord Stinker when he heard someone calling at him. He looked around but couldn't see anyone.  
"UP HERE!" The voice yelled and Grampus looked up and realised he had gone straight into Neptune.  
"OH HI!" Grampus yelled back. Due to Neptune's height and Grampus being so low, yelling was rather necessary.  
"THANKS FOR ALL YOU DID LAST NIGHT."  
"IT WAS NOTHING, ANYONE WOULD HAVE DONE IT."  
"IT TAKES COURAGE TO STICK UP TO BULLIES LIKE THOSE THREE." Grampus smiled and watched as Ten Cents and Sunshine passed, towing two very muddy figures that looked a lot like Zip and Zug.  
"DON'T WORRY; THE Z-STACKS ARE FINE…. ONCE YOU GET USED TO THEM." Grampus yelled back before going back underwater and speeding off, smiling brightly to himself.


	7. Green: Part 1

December 1, 1923  
It is a rare thing to find Bigg City quiet. But the weather was very frosty this morning and an icy breeze wafted through the city, causing boats, trains, cars and humans alike to shiver as they prepared for the day ahead. The sun slowly began to rise and as the weather heated up, people dared to talk, but the howling wind made conversation as this point a bad idea. On the edge of the city, Lillie Lightship let out a loud yawn as she turned her light off after another long night of helping tramp steamers and other vessels coming in.  
"I wish someone would give me a fire for once." She huffed.  
"That isn't very environmental now is it?" A sharp voice huffed. Lillie looked around and saw four green shrimpers in front of her. The largest one, the one who had spoken, approached her. "Hello there, my name is Gareth." He announced. Gareth had a rather broad chin and thick eyebrows and Lillie stifled a snigger. She looked at the other three and examined them: two of them looked exactly like Gareth but smaller and one had large glasses while the other had a beard, but the third was feminine and was much slimmer with thin eyebrows and an elegant chin. "These are my brothers, Glasses, Grant (the one with the beard) and my sister, Gertrude, and we are the Green Fleet."  
"That's very interesting." Lillie yawned. "You don't have to introduce yourself to me and I am really tired so if you don't mind I am going to sleep now."  
"Our sole task is to travel around the world and to convince every one of their environmental wrongs." Gareth continued as if Lillie hadn't interrupted.  
"Huh, I doubt that'll catch on." Lillie scoffed. The four shrimpers let out a low growl before heading into the city.  
"What a miserable troll!" Gertrude huffed and hurried up alongside her brother. "Can we get rid of her when we take over?"  
"Oh you know we will." Gareth replied and the two laughed evilly as the sun rose and cast a dramatic glow over them.

Even though the harbour was never clean, the managers always tried to make sure things were hygienic. That is why Warrior has one of the most important jobs of the whole of Bigg City: collecting the garbage. Each day Warrior collects Lord Stinker and they travel around and collect the garbage. They then take it back to the edge of the city where Jack unloads it and it is then taken away by train to a large dump.  
On this particular morning, Warrior and Lord Stinker were slowly moving across the port, shivering as icy waves hit them.  
"This job really stinks." Warrior huffed.  
"Doesn't it always?" Lord Stinker sighed.  
"Well, yeah, but today it stinks because of this weather!" Warrior grumbled.  
"I've been through much worse my dear boy. You haven't been nearly set on fire nor had a steam engine land on you." Lord Stinker grumbled.  
"Well that is true…" Warrior agreed. Just then, a stronger gust of wind hit them and sent lots of Lord Stinker's rubbish into the ocean.  
"Darn, that will probably get out to sea." Lord Stinker huffed.  
"You better find a way to clean it up then." Warrior gasped and looked around to see Gareth and Glasses next to him, smiling brightly.  
"Who are you?" Warrior asked.  
"I am Gareth, this is my brother Glasses. We are members of the Green Fleet." Gareth explained.  
"That rubbish is polluting this water." Glasses said.  
"Polooting, what is that?" Warrior asked.  
"Pollution is when filthy creatures like you damage our ecosystem!" Gareth snarled, his calm nature suddenly lost.  
"Don't you start getting snappy with us sonny!" Lord Stinker fumed.  
"Shut it old timer!" Glasses growled.  
"You two better make sure that this rubbish is safely delivered and if we see a bit of litter floating around again I will know who I'll look for!" Gareth concluded and he and Glasses turned around and floated off. "Oh, and have a wonderful day."

Big Mac was floating down Up River, a row of barges behind him, all filled with gunpowder. The munitions contract was allowing the Stars to rake in the money and Big Mac enjoyed towing the powerful load through the quiet stream, occasionally seeing friendly faces like Boomer and Lord Lucky.  
"We'll strike when he goes around the bend." Unbeknownst to him, Big Mac was currently the target of Gertrude and Grant who were hiding behind an old barge.  
"I already know that." Grant grumbled.  
"Hey, I am your superior!" Gertrude snapped.  
"I'm older than you!" Grant shout-whispered.  
"Only by a few hours! Besides, Gareth left me in charge so shut your trap if you want trap if you want our plan to work." Gertrude snarled back and looked back. Big Mac was now turning around the bend, whistling to himself. "Ok, NOW!" And the two burst out from behind the barge, towing some stolen ammunition with them.  
"What the-" Big Mac gasped as he realised they were coming for him.  
"Keep it down tuggie or I'll shoot and turn you into a twisted pile of scrap!" Grant said viciously.  
"Now come with us and we may let you live." Gertrude said, sniggering slightly, and the two led Big Mac away, just as snow began to fall from the deep black clouds overhead.

Warrior and Lord Stinker sadly floated up to the garbage port as the snow started to fall over them. Jack was waiting for them and saw their sad faces.  
"What's up?" He asked before beginning to unload Lord Stinker. Warrior quickly explained about their encounter.  
"That sounds like very serious stuff." The manager called.  
"What should I do sir?" Warrior asked.  
"I am not sure, we could see if there is any way to cover Lord Stinker up, prevent any more rubbish spillages." The man boomed out.  
"What exactly?" The barge asked.  
"Well…" Jack replied and looked around the yard.

***

Warrior floated backwards to observe the possible options that Jack had uncovered from the garbage pile: a large tatty tarpaulin, some corrugated iron sheets, some planks of wood and more garbage.  
"I may not be very smart (Lord Stinker stifled a laugh at this point), but I don't think adding more garbage will help." Warrior said.  
"But garbage is great!" Jack smiled but the glare from Lord Stinker and Warrior was enough for him to start picking it up again.  
"I think that the tarpaulin might work best." Lord Stinker suggested.  
"I suppose so." Warrior agreed.  
"Well we better get a move on, I am not losing business because of some dopey shrimpers!" The manager boomed.  
"Yes sir!" The three replied and Jack lifted the tarp onto Lord Stinker. Suddenly, OJ chugged up alongside.  
"Warrior, I have terrible news!" He exclaimed.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Big Mac has gone missing. He arrived at the munition factory with the explosives but he hasn't arrived and no one can find him." Lord Stinker and Jack gasped as Warrior stared into space, jaw open as the snow started to fall more heavily

Big Mac opened a groggy eye. The last thing he remembered was looking at the female shrimper who had kidnapped him when he was slammed into something and knocked out. His frame aching, the harbour tug looked around. He was in a confined space, most likely a shed. It was dark except for cracks in the wooden walls and a medium hole in the roof where snow was falling through. Big Mac shivered when he realised how cold it was. He tried to move forwards but he had no fire or coal left and he looked around and realised he was tied to a wooden staff.  
"What's going on?" He mumbled to himself. The wind howled outside and the shed creaked, more snow falling in. Then, he realised something: he couldn't see the explosives.  
"I don't like where this is going." He thought and began to think of way to stay warm as the wind caused a piece of wood to snap in two, letting in a freezing breeze.

The weather took a turn for the worse a few hours later and prevented any rescue operations from taking place. As the sun started to rise, the blizzard had subsided temporarily and it was only snowing softly with a light breeze. At Star Dock, Captain Starr was addressing OJ, Top Hatt and Warrior.  
"OJ and Top Hatt, you two are going to check Up River again. Sally is doing an aerial view and Billy Shoepack and Puffa will be helping as well." The captain boomed.  
"What about me sir?" Warrior called.  
"I am sorry Warrior, I know you want to help but we need you to do garbage detail." Captain Starr replied. "You may not be taking these environmentally friendly shrimpers seriously, but I am not taking any chances with their threats."  
"That is ridiculous, what could some shrimpers possibly do?" Warrior huffed.  
"Every vessel is different, Warrior." OJ warned. "These ones could be particularly violent for all we know."  
"Oh pish posh." Top Hatt scoffed. "Just slam them into the nearest pier next time you see them."  
"I don't like that sort of attitude Top Hatt! You two get going before I put our dressed-up Z-Stack here on garbage duty instead!" Captain Starr barked. Top Hatt scoffed and muttered "Well I never!" under his breath OJ Sighed and led him out of the pier.

An hour later Warrior was finishing his run. The snow and wind had caused some delays but thankfully no rubbish had fallen out yet. Once Lord Stinker was full the tarpaulin was attached and they headed back.  
"This is actually a rather smart idea." Warrior smiled.  
"Quite right, I think that this will work out very well." Lord Stinker agreed. "And hopefully those green shrimpers won't bother us again."  
"Hear hear!" Warrior boomed as the two glided up to the garbage pier. The wind started to howl furiously and it began to snow more heavily.  
"Brrr!" Jack huffed as the two came up. "Get here faster, I need to move." And he quickly moved forwards and started to grab the tarpaulin before Warrior had stopped.  
"Be careful!" The manager yelled. "If that garbage gets in the ocean, who knows what those shrimpers will do."  
"Yeah Jack!" Warrior said. Jack quickly began to unload the garbage, but made sure he moved carefully. The manager had insisted that they place the garbage behind a large piece of metal to prevent it blowing away until Chuffa II, one of Puffa's brothers, came to collect it later. Warrior had his eyes shut as the snow began to blind him. The clouds were a dark black now and were casting a dark glow over the city.  
"It's practically night time!" Lord Stinker grunted. Just as Jack unloaded the last piece of rubbish, it happened. There was a howl from the wind and the sheet of metal was sent flying into the air and knocked the managers megaphone right from its bracket. Warrior, Jack and Lord Stinker wailed as piles of garbage were sent flying, the majority landing in the ocean.  
"Tut tut tut." They all turned as Gareth and Glasses idled up behind them.  
"We did warn you." Gareth growled. "And look what has happened now!"  
"It… it… it wasn't our fault, it was the wind!" Warrior exclaimed.  
"You should have been more careful!" Glasses roared.  
"Let's take these two back." Gareth ordered.  
"What about the crane?"  
"We'll use the dynamite for this." Gareth chuckled. Warrior and Lord Stinker screamed and tried to flee but Gareth and Glasses came up on either side and crushed them before tying ropes around and leading them away. Jack roared at the shrimpers, but the snow swallowed them up in an instant.


	8. Green: Part 2

About an hour later, Warrior awoke in a groggy state and in a very strange place.  
"Nice to see your up." The harbour tug gasped as he instantly recognised the voice.  
"Big Mac!" He exclaimed and turned to his brother.  
"How did you get in this mess?" Big Mac asked, and the two quickly exchanged their stories.  
"Wait, where is Lord Stinker? And where are we?" Warrior asked.  
"I am not sure where this warehouse is, but I am pretty sure we are on Up River." Big Mac explained. "And for Lord Stinker, I saw him when they shoved you in here, but I think they took him away with the gunpowder."  
"Do you know what they are going to do?"  
"I am not certain, but I believe it has something to do with a bridge." And for once, Warrior was able to put together the pieces.  
"Chuffa II was going to collect the garbage, but whenever he comes to collect the garbage, he usually has a train of coal or wood with him. So the shrimpers must be placing Lord Stinker under the bridge and have him blow up as Chuffa goes over as punishment for the involvement in damaging the environment." Big Mac's jaw dropped and he stared for several minutes after Warrior had finished.  
"I think that is the most intelligent thing you've ever said." He said at last. "But if that is correct, than we need to get out of here quickly."  
"Good idea!" Warrior smiled and tried to move and Big Mac sighed as he struggled with the rope.  
"We aren't getting out of here anytime soon you realise." Big Mac said.  
"Well how are going to save them?" Warrior asked. Big Mac looked around the shed and saw something that caught his eye.  
"Didn't you say Top Hatt was looking for me?"  
"Yeah, and OJ, why?"  
"Well, I think that Top Hatt will find us…."

"What is that horrible smell?!"  
"Seriously Top Hatt, we're in the middle of searching for a colleague and you can only think about a bad smell?"  
Top Hatt and OJ were shouting at each other in order to be heard as they travelled through the howling wind, trying to look for Big Mac as the snow slowly died down.  
"It is… garbage."  
"Garbage?"  
"I have taken Lord Stinker far too many times to know the smell." Top Hatt huffed. OJ sighed and moved forwards, but was baffled by the smell of garbage as well.  
"Could Warrior be doing a pick up?"  
"No, he only works in the city." Confused, OJ looked around and suddenly saw an old wooden shed. The paddle tug moved towards it and sniffed as he went, the smell getting stronger.  
"The smell is in here." OJ called.  
"OJ?" Top Hatt and OJ gasped as they heard the cry from inside the shed. It was Warrior! Top Hatt extended his head and could see through a hole in the wooden wall and saw Warrior and Big Mac together.  
"Quickly old timer, burst that door down!" OJ snorted at being insulted but turned and smashed into the door which easily broke away.  
"Well finally!" Big Mac boomed and laughed at his own wit. The greenies had unloaded what remained of Lord Stinker's garbage onto the pier in the warehouse and the wind had blown the smell out. Top Hatt came over as well and he and OJ broke the rope trapping the two.  
"Quickly, we need to save Lord Stinker and Chuffa II!" Warrior bellowed.  
"How did you get tied up anyway?" OJ asked. Warrior told his story again and explained about the bombing.  
"Is it me, or did Warrior say something intelligent?" Top Hatt asked, smirking. Everyone glared at him.  
"If this is correct, we need to get out there as quickly as possible!" OJ exclaimed.  
"I have no fire though." Big Mac pointed out.  
"We need to get out there though!" Warrior cried. "Chuffa II could be crossing that bridge any minute."

Gareth floated on the icy water, staring down the river as a cloud of smoke appeared in the distance. The train would be here shortly and soon their job would be done. He briefly looked over at his family preparing for the destruction. Lord Stinker was next to the bridge, looking nervous and Glasses and Grant arranged the explosives next to him.  
"Everything is nearly ready." Gertrude said.  
"Good." Gareth replied and looked back down the line. The black smoke was getting thicker and closer. Disgusting, he thought, and looked back at Glasses.  
"Prepare the explosives." He boomed.  
"Right away." Glasses smiled.  
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" The four shrimpers turned as four tugboats charged towards them.  
"Oh look, the captives got rescued." Grant grunted and he charged forwards. Big Mac spun in a circle and used his body to whack Grant back.  
"Nice moves." Gareth smiled. "However, I think you'll find you're too late!" And he looked over at the bridge. Lord Stinker looked at Warrior with large, frightened eyes as Glasses started work on lighting the fuse.  
"GET THEM!" Warrior roared viciously and he charged forwards. Gareth moved forwards slightly and Warrior slammed into him. Big Mac charged forwards and smashed into Grant.  
"Oh I love a good fight!" The shrimper chuckled and tried shoving Big Mac back but the harbour tug sent him crashing into Glasses. The fuse ignited in the scuffle and Lord Stinker gasped.  
"Let's get out of here!" Gertrude yelled.  
"We're stuck!" Glasses huffed.  
"Stay that way!" Top Hatt snorted and gave Gareth a push into Gertrude. There was a loud whistle as Chuffa II arrived to his doomsday. He was identical to Puffa in shape but he was a dark navy colour.  
"What's going on?" He yelled as he approached the bridge. Big Mac gasped and rushed in to save Lord Stinker but Gertrude appeared and started to push him against the bridge supports.  
"Time for you lot to leave." Gareth snarled at the remaining Stars. Warrior howled and charged into Gareth and the two started to spin around in circles, glaring at each other as the wind and snow hammered them. Then, out of the corner of their eyes, the gunpowder ignited and exploded, blasting the bridge to smithereens. Warrior gasped and looked.  
"Chuffa II? Lord Stinker? Big Mac..."

Moments earlier….  
Gertrude tried her best to keep Big Mac trapped, but the large harbour tug knocked her aside a Chuffa II began to cross the rails.  
"Don't stop, keep moving!" Big Mac yelled as he stared at Warrior and Gareth as they spun around. The harbour tug rushed away from the shrimpers, all three of them staring hopelessly at the gunpowder. They shut their eyes as the gunpowder exploded, blasting all three of them to smithereens and covering Big Mac and Lord Stinker. The bridge was turned into splinters, but Chuffa II narrowly avoided the carnage. Halve of his trucks were destroyed in the blast and the rest of the wood caught fire. Several trucks kept rolling and landed in the river. As the smoke cleared, Warrior, Top Hatt and OJ let out a cheer of relief as they realised their friends were safe.  
"That was too close for comfort." Lord Stinker huffed as Big Mac came to a halt.  
"Would someone mind explaining things?" Chuffa II bellowed as he screeched to a halt.  
"It's a long story." OJ replied.  
"And it wasn't very interesting until this happened." Top Hatt added and looked over at where the bridge once was. Gareth was staring into the water as some remains of his family floated on top. A single tear came down his face but the wind and snow brushed it away. He looked up at the Star Tugs and fumed.  
"You horrible tugboats!" He screamed. "This is your fault!"  
"You brought this on yourself!" Warrior replied. "If you hadn't tried to fore your ways onto us, than you and your siblings would all be here." Everyone was stunned; Gareth as he knew he was right, and the other Stars as Warrior had said his second clever thing in an hour. Gareth went to charge forwards but there was a whirring sound and several white naval speedboats appeared.  
"Halt!" One of them boomed. "Now what exactly is going on here?"

A few hours later, Warrior and Lord Stinker headed back to the garbage dock. Gareth had been arrested and was being sent to "Hell" and the wreckage had been cleared up and wood was already being collected for a new bridge. The weather had calmed down and it was a few degrees warmer than usual.  
"You survived!" Jack cried.  
"Only just." Lord Stinker replied. Bits of garbage were still floating on the water but Warrior simply ignored them.  
"You try and stay out of trouble now your Lordship." He smirked as he untied the barge.  
"Thank you Warrior." The manager called.  
"Thank Big Mac; he was the one who saved him."  
"Well pass on my thanks then." Warrior smiled and looked at his friend.  
"Let's hope that was the last we saw of those greenie meanies." He said and turned away. "See you tomorrow morning." Lord Stinker yelled out.  
"As always." And with that, Warrior headed home, leaving the rubbish to float to the bottom of the sea.

***

Gareth gulped as the ocean-going naval tugs led him to "Hell." It was hailing and raining here and the waves were rather choppy, making the journey very uncomfortable.  
"Welcome to your new home." One of the tugs sneered and they led him inside. Though the hail stopped attacking them and the sea was cooler, it was much darker inside except for the lamps of the tugs.  
"Your in luck, we now have lights in our cells." The second tug snarled.  
"How come?"  
"Some nasty little bugger attacked one of our old associates from the dark. Now get in!" The first one boomed and forced Gareth into a cell. An oil lamp was attached to the wall, casting shadows across the wall of his other two occupants.  
"Oh goodie, another friend." A tramp steamer said, his accent thick.  
"H-h-hello, I'm Gareth." Gareth spluttered.  
"The name's Cuba, Johnny Cuba. My tug friend here is Sea Rouge." Sea Rouge smiled weakly at Gareth before looking away.  
"Nice to meet you two." The shrimper replied timidly.  
"And I am very pleased to meet you." Johnny said, grinning broadly. "If things go to plan, we'll be out of here by Christmas." Gareth was startled and Johnny chuckled and moved aside to show Gareth a large dent in the steel wall. "Once we get that out of the way, breaking through the rock will be a snap." Sea Rouge looked away as Gareth gulped, but he thought of the Stars, of Warrior and Lord Stinker, of his brothers and sister, and how sweet revenge would feel.


	9. Cold Front

_December 6__th__ 1920  
__Several years ago, a winter nearly as bad as this one struck Bigg City. A cold front moved in and a strong blizzard soon followed. Boats of all shapes and sizes became come with snow and ice and there were fears that it was cold enough to freeze certain lakes and rivers. There was nearly no visibility and everyone feared the worse.  
__Chuffa, Puffa's older brother, was speeding down the tracks towards the docks. Behind him was one of the longest trains he had ever pulled and the trucks were full of wood, coal and fuel to keep all the residents toasty warm. The steam engine hadn't been warned about the icy rails and he sped along the track. As he rounded a bend Chuffa noticed that the rails were frozen and he tried to brake before he reached the end of the siding but he had been going too fast and his train surged him onwards. Chuffa let out a yell and burst through the buffers and smashed into some loads behind them before plunging into the sea, half of the trucks crashing on top of him, crushing him into_ -Okay, we get the point, drop it!  
(December 6th 1923)  
Sunshine was highly frightened by the story OJ had just told, but Ten Cents, Top Hatt and Hercules had heard it all before.  
"Is that really how the first Chuffa died?" Sunshine said quietly.  
"Yes, exactly three years ago today." OJ explained. "A crane was able to lift him out but the weight of the trucks had crushed him. The UFFA Company decided to build several more engines in case an incident on this scale happened again."  
"Wow." Sunshine said gobsmacked.  
"Oh really Sunshine, it isn't really that fascinating." Top Hatt scoffed. Everyone turned to him and the railway tug gave a sniff before rising up above them. "Those steam engines are smelly and a nuisance, I hate having to pull their trucks everywhere when we could be doing the work they do."  
"Quiet Top Hatt!" Captain Starr boomed before Hercules and OJ started an argument. "It's funny you should mention the steam engines. Another tramp steamer has crashed and lost all the fuel supplies it carried onboard. Puffa, Huffa and Chuffa II are now collecting large supplies of coal, fuel and wood from various places. Big Mac is already Up River sorting out the logs but I need Ten Cents to go up and help him."  
"Right away sir." Ten Cents said and he turned and chugged away.  
"OJ, Hercules and Sunshine, I need you three to wait for Puffa to arrive and then take away the coal he brings. And Top Hatt, I need you to work with Frank and Eddie to help with delivery work."  
"Oh joy, my favourite task." Top Hatt snorted and the others rolled their eyes.  
"Come now darling, I am sure taking a few rounds with the steam engines won't be so difficult." Hercules chuckled and he headed away with the others.  
"Stupid ocean goer." Top Hatt grunted and he too headed off. As they all passed Zero Dock, Zorran, Zebedee and Zip were watching them go past.  
"If we sink their barges, won't it mean everyone will freeze?" Zip asked.  
"Yes, but than we will get their contract." Zorran chuckled.  
"But what if we freeze?" Zip said.  
"We won't, we're the bad guys, nothing bad ever happens to the bad guys." Zorran snarled.  
"Oh ok." Zip said and Zebedee and Zorran rolled their eyes collectively.  
"So, do you have a plan?" Zebedee asked.  
"Do I never?" Zorran replied with a smile and headed off slowly behind the Stars.

Frank and Eddie, the twin railway barges, were waiting impatiently for Top Hatt to arrive.  
"Oh here he comes Eddie." Frank boomed as Top Hatt arrived.  
"Fashionably late as always, eh Frank?" Eddie replied.  
"We have work to do you know." Frank added.  
"Very important work at that." Eddie said.  
"Oh shut up you two!" Top Hatt snapped as he moved between them and tied himself to them and quickly started off. "Do you know where we're going first?"  
"I believe to the main railway yard." Frank suggested.  
"We're picking up some coal hoppers and-" Eddie began but Top Hatt cut in.  
"I don't need the jobs life story I just need to know where to go!" He grumbled and ignored the barges for the rest of the short trip.  
Though the railway stretched over the entire city, the main yards were located in the very centre of the harbour. There were many bridges, cranes, warehouses, water towers, sidings and complicated point systems. Puffa and Huffa were the only trains there at the moment, Chuffa II and the older steam engines were out collecting the supplies. About four cranes were working around the engines and their trains while men, lorries and boats surrounded them and the area waiting to be loaded. Zak was one of the few tugs there and had two barges he was hoping to fill with coal to present to someone. He sorted as Top Hatt approached him.  
"What are you doing here?" He sneered.  
"What does it look like dummy?" Top Hatt replied as he approached a smaller area where a crane was waiting to lift several hoppers full of coal onto Frank and Eddie.  
"Its good to see you." Puffa called amongst the noise of tooting horns and yelling workers.  
"Nice to see you as well." Top Hatt smiled. There was a loud wheesh of steam as Huffa let out a loud booming whistle and started to reverse away.  
"I am not giving you these barrels if you don't give me some space." He roared. Zak growled as Puffa began to move back as well. The lorry drivers moved away from the lines and the noise level slowly died down but people were still arguing and the boats were trying to push past each other. Top Hatt waited impatiently as the hefty coal hoppers were loaded on and moved slowly away.  
"Be careful Top Hatt, we wouldn't want you having an accident." Zak sniggered.  
"That is preposterous!" Top Hatt snorted. "I never have accidents, I am a very smooth movi-"  
"LOOK OUT!" Frank and Eddie yelled and Top Hatt looked around just as something smacked into the side of Eddie and the hoppers started to roll…  
"Whoops, Sorry Top Hatt." The railway tug looked up as Mighty Moe, being pulled by Ten Cents, quickly straightened up the hoppers.  
"Watch where you're going you dopey switcher!" Top Hatt snapped.  
"Someone's in a temper." Frank sniggered.  
"Not Ten Cent's fault." Eddie added.  
"Thank you." Ten Cents said. "There are too many boats in this area it is impossible to get out."  
"Well find another way!" Top Hatt growled and quickly headed off.

A few minutes later Zak chugged through the canals with his barges loaded with coal and soon came across an old warehouse. Checking that things were clear, the tugboat went in through the doors.  
Captain Zero had brought this warehouse as a special storage facility to help arrange their plots out of earshot of the Stars or anyone else passing by. It looked very normal but the frames were rotten and there wasn't much space for them all, but thankfully only one other was there.  
"Good, you're finally here." Zorran snapped.  
"Sorry Zorran, these smelly boats were trapping me in." Zak explained.  
"Not the time for excuses." The leader growled. "Leave one of the barges here and go and deliver the other one pronto."  
"Won't we need it?"  
"No, Zebedee and Zip hopefully will only need one. Now I need you to go and hold up Ten Cents, quickly now." Zorran said. Zak nodded and quickly untied one of the barges and turned and left. Zorran smiled as he went and quickly tied himself to the remaining barge and followed soon after

***

Half an hour later Zorran, Zebedee and Zip were waiting behind some barges Up River. Zak had successfully held up Ten Cents and given the three enough time to race up to the site of the new munitions warehouse and they stole several barges before rushing to the logging camp. Big Mac had left to tend to another issue nearby and the Z-Stacks quickly assembled the coal barge and munitions.  
"Sit back boys and watch the show." Zorran whispered as Ten Cents and Mighty Moe approached.  
"Top Hatt seems to be in a right mood today." The crane boomed as they neared the site.  
"I think it is just the weather getting to him." Ten Cents said. As they reached the barges blocking the area, Zebedee moved backwards and pulled a rope upwards. Mighty Moe's hook caught on it and he accidentally pulled the barge with both munitions and coal in it.  
"Oh bugger!" Ten Cents snapped as the barge rolled towards the logs and sparks began to fly. The Z-Stacks smiled as the barge exploded in a flash of yellow the logs quickly began to catch ablaze. Ten Cents and Mighty Moe could only watch as the flames spread rapidly across the logs and headed towards the railway lines nearby with several flatbeds resting in the siding.  
"That train is loaded with logs!" Mighty Moe exclaimed.  
"What exactly can we do?" Ten Cents snapped. Zebedee sniggered and Zorran glared at him but couldn't help smiling as well. There was a loud whistle as Chuffa II came into the scene.  
"What's going on?" He boomed, dumbstruck by the blazing logs.  
"A fire, obviously." Mighty Moe growled.  
"You need to get those flatbeds out of here!" Ten Cents cried. But it was too late. As Chuffa II approached the flatbeds the flames reached the siding and they suddenly burst into flames and the steam engine rushed backwards. Ten Cents looked around at the surroundings, half expecting the snow-covered trees to burst into flames as well. However, the clouds suddenly opened up and rain cascaded down onto the area.  
"Well that's lucky." Mighty Moe mumbled. Zorran swore as the flames started to die down.  
"I'll go and try and find Big Mac." Chuffa II called out and let out a wheesh of steam and reversed. Ten Cents let out a sigh and went into the area and Mighty Moe began to pick up the charred bits. Meanwhile, behind the bushes, Zebedee and Zip stared at Zorran as he formulated a new plan.  
"We'll stay here and try and ambush them on their way out." Zorran said in his normal voice as the rain would drown them out.  
"Smart idea!" Zip said but Zebedee wasn't so sure.  
"Do we really need to stay in one place in this weather?" He grumbled.  
"Of course, we are Z-Stacks, not pansies!" Zorran snapped back and he turned back to watching Ten Cents. Zebedee just sighed. He really needed to find a new job.

Top Hatt waited impatiently with Frank and Eddie as the rain slowly stopped only to be replaced by hail and then some light snow. Puffa and Huffa were nearby as well and they needed Chuffa II to come as well so they could collect his empty trucks and then go and finish their journey.  
"Nasty weather." Frank grumbled.  
"Very nasty." Eddie agreed.  
"Too bad we don't have umbrellas." Frank chuckled.  
"That would be absolute relief." Eddie chortled.  
"Oh shut up!" Top Hatt snapped and the barges fell silent. Puffa and Huffa exchanged looks but remained silent but Top Hatt saw them and growled.  
"Yes?" Huffa asked.  
"The look, what was that for?" The railway tug demanded.  
"Well…" Puffa said nervously but Huffa was more abrupt.  
"You are being a bit of a dick. It isn't their fault Chuffa II ain't here!"  
"I know, there are just being annoying." Top Hatt explained. "But your dumb railway is too blame."  
"Excuse me!" Huffa roared.  
"Calm down everyone." Puffa cried but Huffa and Top Hatt started to bellow at each other and drowned out all other noise. None of them noticed as Chuffa II arrived until he whistled loudly and they looked at him.  
"I have your trucks but there was a fire and I was delayed." He explained.  
"A fire?" Frank gasped.  
"Sounds serious." Eddie commented. Top Hatt glared at them and they fell quiet. A nearby gantry crane quickly set to work in the silent scene, changing the loads over and then lifting some of the hoppers onto Frank and Eddie.  
"Pleasure doing business." Top Hatt snarled and he set off. Huffa grunted and huffed away, leaving Puffa and Chuffa II thoroughly annoyed as the snow started to fall more heavily.

Several hours later a full blizzard had brewed. Boats quickly found shelter to shield them from the storm. However, the engines were in the middle of their lines and had to rush to find shelter. But Puffa had been in the middle of heading to load up his trucks.  
"I'll have to turn back." He grumbled and quickly reversed back down the line. About twenty minutes later he got back into the port area and was able to change direction at a set of points and began to run the right way. The snow was buffeting him and it seemed that he would derail at some point if this weather continued. The rails seemed icy and with the blinding snow Puffa knew any sort of incident was unavoidable, but he hoped there would be someone to help….

Top Hatt was hiding in a warehouse with Frank and Eddie next to him. The two barges were very quiet and the only noise they could hear was the whistling of the wind and thud of snow as it hit the dodgy roof. Top Hatt was still grumpy about the incident before but he looked at the barges on either side and let out a sigh.  
"I'm sor… sor… sor-" He said, looking for the right word.  
"Do you mean sorry?" Eddie asked.  
"Yeah, that word. I'm sorry." Top Hatt said and winced in a strange manner. Frank and Eddie's jaws practically hit the ocean as they stared, wide eyed and wide mouthed, at him.  
"Eddie, did he just say he was sorry?" Frank asked, dumbstruck.  
"I believe he did say so Frank." Eddie replied.  
"Ever heard him say that Eddie?"  
"I have never heard him say that Frank."  
"Absolutley astounding!"  
"An early Christmas miracle." The barges chuckled and Top Hatt was about to snap when they heard a high pitched whistle echo throughout the silent city.  
"Isn't that Puffa?" The tugboat gasped. Before Frank and Eddie could reply, Top Hatt began to head forwards, dragging them with him.

Puffa was racing along the tracks, whistling loudly. The steam engine was scared, scared for his life, scared for anyone that got in front of him. He had lost control of his train and couldn't handle the icy rails and the trucks surging behind him. He was whistling to clear the tracks but also hoping that someone would investigate and try and help him. However, Puffa turned a corner and realised it was useless. He had arrived at the scene of the famous accident and was heading straight towards the buffers.  
"This is it." He mumbled and braked but knew it was pointless. Puffa skidded down the icy rails, snow hitting him all the way, and smashed through the buffers at the end. Puffa gasped as he wheels landed instantly on something cold but solid. He skidded for about a metre before smashing into something. His wheels bobbed over the edge of whatever he was on and he could feel his trucks against his back buffers.  
"Don't worry Puffa, we'll get you back on land soon enough." Puffa gasped as he realised he had crashed into Top Hatt. The railway tug had changed Frank and Eddie so Frank was in front of his brother and they raced over and arrived just as Puffa smashed through the buffers.  
"The services should be here soon." Frank exclaimed.  
"And half your trucks have derailed by the way." Eddie added.  
"I don't really care about those at the moment." Puffa said. Top Hatt smiled as the snow pounded them and they struggled to stay afloat.

A short while later, the snow storm had ceased and was only snowing lightly. Huffa and Chuffa II had arrived to pull away the trucks and Ten Cents and Sunshine had brought Mighty Moe and Little Ditcher. Puffa remained on Frank and Eddie as the trucks were cleared away.  
"I can't believe Top Hatt actually apologised." Sunshine said, gobsmacked.  
"It isn't that big of a deal." Top Hatt huffed.  
"You never apologise though!" Huffa said, roaring with laughter.  
"Too bad no one else was around to hear it." Ten Cents added and they all chuckled.  
"Would you please drop it?" Top Hatt groaned.  
"Nah, it is too funny." Chuffa II giggled. Furious, Top Hatt moved backwards. Everyone gasped as Puffa moved and several trucks nearly fell into the water. Top Hatt corrected himself and everyone started to laugh again, causing him to leave in a huff.

Meanwhile, still near the logging camp, Zorran, Zebedee and Zip were stuck in their hiding spot, practically frozen. They had been trapped by the blizzard and now had no way out. Zebedee and Zip looked at Zorran, who let out a growl as a giant pile of snow landed on them.  
It was going to be a long night.


	10. Salvage

December 13th 1923  
It was another frosty winter's night. A fog had rolled in, and the water was icier than ever. Dark clouds blotted the moon, and only the light was emitted from Lillie Lightship. She floated in her usual spot, looking into the fog as if something interesting would come out. No one sailed much during this weather, though Sunshine had mentioned something about a tramp steamer earlier. At least it would give her some company.  
After a while, Lillie realised she had drifted off, as when she opened her eyes, Hercules was in front of her.  
"Oh Hercules, hello." Lillie said, blushing.  
"I was just leading a tramp steamer in and I thought I'd say hello." Hercules said, beaming. Lillie giggled and looked away. The tramp steamer, an ugly heap of grey steel, was waiting behind him.  
"Hello there." He grunted.  
"Hello, what are you carrying?" Lillie asked pleasantly.  
"What's it to ya?" The tramp steamer grunted, before looking at Hercules. "We going anytime soon?" Hercules turned and glared at his passenger.  
"I'd like to talk to a friend if that is alright." He snapped. The tramp steamer moved forwards, Lillie's light illuminating his hideous features.  
"I am paying ya for this!" He growled.  
"So rude!" Lillie gasped.  
"Oh shut it missy!" The tramp steamer said angrily.  
"Now now darling, no need to act like this!" Hercules cried.  
"That's it, I'm leaving!" The tramp steamer roared, and he swerved and sped off. Hercules turned and Lillie stared, watching the tramp steamer sped off. But Lillie gasped as her light caught some rocks nearby.  
"STOP!" Hercules yelled, but the tramp steamer ignored them. The tugboat and lightship exchanged looks as they heard a cry of shock, a crash, and waves flowing. Hercules sped forwards, and nearly reversed in shock. The tramp steamer had scratched his entire left hull. Water was seeping in, causing the tramp steamer to tilt. He looked at Hercules with a look of sadness, anger and confusion. Then he capsized and began to sink.  
"I hate it when that happens." Lillie moaned. "Should you alert someone?" Hercules turned on her, a determined look on his face.  
"I have to. That tramp steamer had halve the week's supply of fuel and coal in his hold." He explained. "If we don't retrieve the fuel barrels, the city could grind to a halt."

Things began early next morning.  
Lillie Lightship managed to get in an hour's sleep, but was rudely awoken by two very annoying tug boats.  
"Hello Lillie." Blair said slyly.  
"How are you today?" Burke added, grinning. Lillie gave them both vicious looks, and they back away to the site of the crash, staring down into the frozen waters.  
"Do you think we could salvage it?" Blair queried.  
"Most definitely." Burke replied.  
"That is good to hear."  
"Indeed. Once it is out, we can sell it for scrap metal." Burke and Blair seemed to have forgotten Lillie was there, and she shined her lights in their eyes. The two yelped and reversed, hitting Dender Rocks and covering their decks with snow.  
"You do realise that Hercules and the Navy are coming here soon." She said, smirking. The two scrap dealers gasped and exchanged looks.  
"And why would they be doing that?" Blair asked, his moustache shaking with fear.  
"There are valuable loads in its hold." Lillie explained. "They may let you have it afterwards."  
"They'd better." Burke growled. Lillie rolled her eyes as the two scurried away, muttering to each other.  
"One of these days we should scrap her." Blair said, and the two chuckled loudly.

A short while later, Lillie looked behind the rocks and saw a progression  
At the front was Grampus, though he was mostly underwater. You could just see the tip of his periscope, poking out through the murky water. Behind him, Hercules skimmed through the sea, towing Mighty Moe and Little Ditcher behind him. Then, there was Bluenose, Junior, and, surprisingly, Zorran. The Z-Stack still hadn't quite recovered from the frosty incident a few weeks ago, but was trying to get involved in the salvage one way or another. And drawing up the back were Burke and Blair. It seemed the two had barely been allowed into the party, but were being forced to stay away from the work until the tramp steamer was brought up. Grampus rose up, spraying water onto the snowy rocks.  
"Hello Lillie." He called, smiling widely.  
"Hello Grampus." Lillie replied. "What's your main job today?"  
"I am on standby." Grampus explained. Lillie raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and the midget submarine chuckled. "If they need me to head down and investigate things, I am waiting here to do my job."  
"Ah, I see." Lillie said, smiling. Just then, Hercules arrived with the cranes, and the Naval group and Zorran arrived a few seconds later.  
"Lillie, kindly don't get in the way." Bluenose snapped. Lillie was shocked, and was about to yell when Junior glared at her. Hercules and Grampus exchanged looks, and Zorran smirked as Burke and Blair chugged up behind them.  
"So, what is the plan, boss?" Junior asked eagerly.  
"The cranes can attempt to lift the tramp steamer up." Bluenose said. "If they fail, the submarine can dive down and guide their hooks to the barrels."  
"We do have names you know." Little Ditcher snapped.  
"Do you deserve them?" Zorran retorted, sneering.  
"What did you say?" Mighty Moe boomed, and swung around, smashing his hook against Zorran's hatt. The tug spun and reversed away. Lillie giggled and decide to relax and watch the drama unfold.

After a short while, Mighty Moe and Little Ditcher had lowered their hooks. Grampus helped to secure them and floated back to the surface.  
"Everything is ready!" He exclaimed.  
"Took you long enough." Zorran muttered. He looked towards Lillie and then looked back, and jumped. Hercules had come up right close to him, and was giving him a foul look. Zorran gulped as Hercules' stared into his eyes, his own peering over his glasses.

"Darling, if you make one more foul comment, I'll arrange it so that we're doing your recuse mission tomorrow." The ocean goer said pleasantly. "Is that understood?"  
"Yes Hercules." Zorran said foully, and he scurried away. Hercules smiled broadly and he headed back to Grampus and the cranes.

"Shall we start?" Mighty Moe asked. Bluenose growled and floated up alongside.  
"Yes you should start, what do you think we are doing here, having a tea party?" Bluenose spluttered.  
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of their dock this morning." Little Ditcher muttered, and Grampus chuckled. Bluenose glowered at them and backed away. Junior tutted, making the naval tug nod in appreciation.  
"On the count of three! One…. Two…. THREE!" Bluenose boomed. Within a second, Mighty Moe and Little Ditcher began to turn their wrenches and cranks. The wire tightened and the two cranes began to groan.  
"What's wrong?" Hercules exclaimed, worried.  
"It's too heavy!" Little Ditcher groaned.  
"Try harder!" Bluenose barked. Hercules gave the naval tug the evil's and looked back to the scene. Grampus, worried, dived underwater. His eyes instantly adjusted to being under the sea. There weren't many underwater features around the harbour, and it didn't change at Dender Rocks. Groups of fish came past and there was some seaweed nearby, but otherwise it was just rocks and sand. Grampus looked up at the hulls of his friends before heading further down. The tramp steamer had been lifted about two centimetres, but it was still buried in the sand. The submarine quickly rose to the surface. He arrived back up in front of Zorran. The Z-Stack barely registered him before being sprayed with water.  
"Do you mind?" He growled.  
"Oh shut it." Grampus snapped, and Zorran looked affronted. Grampus smirked at this before looking back at the cranes. Mighty Moe and Little Ditcher were still struggling, and Grampus doubted that the tramp steamer had moved.  
"What did you see?" Burke asked.  
"You guys won't be able to lift it, it is too deep in the sand." Grampus explained. With a sigh of relief, the two cranes stopped lifting.  
"Well how else are we going to get the supplies?" Mighty Moe asked. Bluenose smiled and looked at Grampus.  
"Him of course."

Within a few minutes, Grampus was diving back into the water.  
Things seemed darker and more intense on this journey. Grampus' job was to locate the part of the hull where the barrels. Once he had done that, he would use flares to blow a hole, allowing the two cranes to lift the barrels up. The midget submarine sped through the freezing waters, scaring a school of clown fish. The tramp steamer was lying in an awkward position, which Grampus assumed was from being dropped again. He could see the hole that had caused the problems in the first place. Lying alongside, Grampus could see some fuel barrels.  
This should be easy. Grampus smirked, and he sped forwards.  
There was darkness.  
Grampus gasped as soon as he entered through the hole. There was little light inside the narrow, upside-down hallways. Grampus turned around and saw the hole he had come through. He must have come in too fast, as he now seemed far away from it. There weren't any portholes in the hull, so now other light could get in. Grampus sighed and moved slowly forwards. Within a few seconds he was in eternal darkness. It seemed he had dived into a pool of oil. Everywhere he looked it was dark.  
"I can do this, I can do this." He said, his voice perfectly normal despite being metre under sea level.  
It was going to be a difficult journey.

Back at the rescue site, things were quiet.  
Lillie had become bored with the proceedings and had fallen asleep. Little Ditcher and Mighty Moe were huddling together, spreading some of Scuttlebutt Pete's latest gossip. Bluenose was staring towards the city, his face frozen and serious. Junior was next to him, trying to imitate his idol. Hercules had left, searching for barges that Bluenose was supposed to bring. That left Zorran, Burke and Blair staring down into the sea. There were no waves and the wind had died down, living things peaceful and quiet.  
"Frosty weather, ain't it?" Zorran said, trying to break the tension. Though the weather was chilly, the look the scrap dealers gave him was the coldest thing that day.  
"Kindly don't talk to us." Burke snapped.  
"We are here for business dealings." Blair added.  
"What do you think I'm here for?" Zorran snapped. Burke and Blair exchanged looks and chuckled simultaneously.  
"What business dealings would that be?" Blair asked, an eyebrow raised.  
"Hercules is here for the fuel contract, Bluenose is here as it is naval proceedings, and we are here for the metal at the bottom of the sea." Burke smirked. "There seems nothing left for you." Zorran went to reply, but Blair cut in.  
"And don't say you're here to steal." Zorran looked crestfallen, and he turned and backed away. As the scrap dealers went to look back, Zorran smashed into Dender Rocks. Everyone in the area smirked, watching as the snow covered rocks splashed into the water.

Grampus was travelling through the corridors, trying to find his way. He kept hitting walls and door frames. Not much sound was made, but it left him feeling rather sore.  
Than, the rocks fell.  
Grampus' eyes were slowly adjusting, and he could make up a large doorway ahead. Delighted, he sped forwards, just as the rocks finished their descent. They smashed through the tramp steamer's deck, plunging further and further through the floors.  
No one had noticed that the tramp steamer was very old. He wasn't very tough and the heavy rocks turned his metal into paper.  
Grampus looked up, the sound of the destruction surprisingly loud. He sensed what would happen, and he quickly sped away. He watched as the ceiling was destroyed, rocks raining down. Grampus let out a loud scream, spinning as he reversed. He felt his body shake, and gasped as one of the flares shot out. He must have accidentally set it off, and he watched as there was a blast and a large enough hole appeared. Grampus halted and he sped out through it.  
He wasn't going back there anytime soon.

Old Rusty looked out at the ocean, watching the waves dancing and the seagulls soaring over the blue carpet.  
Of course, he did this every day.  
It was really all he could do.  
The tramp steamer sighed. He led such a boring life, he was desperate for a change. A seagull soared over him, and dropped a large, wet present for him. Old Rusty examined the bird faeces, and sighed again.  
"At least it's a change." He groaned.  
Just then, Grampus surfaced.  
Old Rusty gasped and looked down. The midget submarine sprayed water. It landed perfectly on the droppings and washed it away.  
"Why thank you." Old Rusty said, smiling broadly.  
"Your welcome." Grampus replied, and he went to move.  
"Hang on a second." Old Rusty cried. "What are you doing here anyway?" Grampus hesitated, wondering whether he should discuss how scared he was back. But he decided Old Rusty could help, he seemed understanding.  
"Ok, well, there's this salvage operation…" The midget submarine began to explain what had happened, staring from the first attempt with the cranes. Old Rusty listened intently, his mind racing with the information he was receiving. When Grampus finished, he blushed, half tempted to submerge again.  
"That is an interesting story." Old Rusty said after a moment's silence. "The rocks must have fallen from Dender Rocks, though it still would be scary." Grampus smiled. Hercules and the cranes might have understood him if he had explained, but Bluenose and the others would have laughed at him.  
"What do you think I should do?" He asked.  
"Isn't it obvious?" Old Rusty replied. Grampus shook his head, causing the tramp steamer to laugh. "You need to head back there and face the music."  
"I can't… it was too dark down there." Grampus spluttered. He looked away in case he cried. But Old Rusty's face suddenly lit up.  
"You said that there were some fuel barrels lying near it, didn't you?"  
"I think so, why?"  
"When tramp steamers, or any ship for that matter, get hit, it takes a while to sink if there was only one hole. But this one sunk very quickly, correct?" Grampus nodded, and then he beamed as well.  
"You think that there is another hole where the barrels came out?" Old Rusty nodded and Grampus whooped and cheered.  
"No you head off now, before they start to worry." Grampus nodded and quickly submerged. Old Rusty's eyes twinkled with happiness as he turned to look back at the ocean.

Grampus raced back to Dender Rocks, barely seeing where he was going. He passed underwater rocks formations, sped through more schools of fish, and tore past murky, green seaweed. The midget submarine had never been so determined to do anything in his whole life.  
Time went by quickly, and soon Grampus was back by the tramp steamer. He could see the holes caused by the falling rocks, and couldn't help smiling. It seemed strange how easily the tramp steamer had been destroyed. But he didn't have time to think about that. Quickly, Grampus approached the tramp steamer. He could see the hole he had entered through, and the hole he had created. Then, he spotted the fuel barrels again. Ecstatic, Grampus raced towards them. As he got closer, he slowed down and began to edge his way around the side of the hull.  
There, half buried in sand, was a jagged hole.  
Grampus cheered in delight, before reversing back a metre. He then fired a flare towards the hole. There was an orange blast and a sheet of metal was torn away, increasing the size of the hole. Then, he approached it to ensure he had done the right thing. And sure enough, sitting inside the hull, were about one hundred barrels of fuel. Grampus smiled and let out a sigh, before slowly rising to the surface.

Two hours later, everything was completed.  
Hercules had gone and collected Pearl and an old fuel barge, and Mighty Moe and Little Ditcher had finally finished collecting all of the fuel. Burke and Blair had been forced to leave as there was no time to salvage the tramp steamer that day.  
"Good work all of you." Bluenose said.  
"Wow, he actually complimented someone." Mighty Moe muttered, and Grampus, Pearl and Little Ditcher chuckled. Junior overheard and quickly moved over.  
"That wasn't very nice!" He huffed.  
"Oh it was just a joke." Little Ditcher snapped.  
"Well it wasn't very funny." Junior growled. Little Ditcher turned to him and was about to talk when Junior suddenly began to rise. They all laughed as they saw Grampus underneath.  
"I'd recommend you back off." The submarine growled, and submerged, allowing the terrified white switcher to speed away.  
"Come along Junior." Bluenose sniffed as he appeared. "Hercules and Zorran, you lot can take care of the barrels." And with that, the naval tugs headed off.  
"You heard the man, let's head home darlings." Hercules boomed.  
"Bye everyone!" Lillie called.  
"Bye." They all replied. The lightship smiled, but she noticed a fog was rolling in. With a sigh, she turned her light on.  
Zorran sped past the group, towing the old barge with him.  
"Shouldn't we stop him?" Pearl asked, her soft voice shaking.  
"Honestly darling, I can't be bothered with him today." Hercules sighed.  
"Oh, by the way, did those rocks cause any damage?" Little Ditcher asked, turning towards Grampus. The midget submarine chuckled.  
"That's a long story…."

Zorran chugged through the alleys of Bigg City. Most of the work for the day had stopped, leaving the city relatively silent. There were dark clouds overhead, and the Z-Stack was worried it would snow on him. He moved faster, desperate to cash in the fuel barrels. But as he left the alley, Burke and Blair appeared on either side.  
"What do you two want?" Zorran snapped, though he was shocked to see them.  
"We may have some business for you." Blair said slyly.  
"Business, what sort of business?" Zorran queried; his tone softer. The scrap dealers chuckled at his desperation.  
"We have a new contract available in the New Year." Burke explained. Zorran's eyes lit up.  
"Are you going to give it directly to us?" He asked, failing to hide his enthusiasm.  
"No, you will have to compete against the Stars." Burke said.  
"It seemed like you lot would need the time to practice." Blair added, and the two turned and left, cackling loudly. Zorran headed off, not realising he had been insulted for a while. He was too excited about the prospect of a new contract.

That night, snow fell heavily onto the city. And by morning, it had softened up a bit but the white powder was still falling from the skies.  
Old Rusty was shivering as he was bombarded with the snow. He was shivering all over from being in the cold all night, and could feel the wind blowing through the cracks in his side.  
"I need heat!" He mumbled. But the old tramp steamer hadn't felt warm for years.  
Suddenly, he moved.  
Old Rusty looked around, petrified. He knew someday his frame would snap, or a strong gust would knock him over. He knew he was going to fall into the water; he was going to drown…  
"Come on old timer, you need to cooperate!" Old Rusty looked down. There, he could see Grampus and Hercules. The ocean-goer had attached a rope to him, and was starting to tug him backwards.  
"Where are you taking me?" He asked, still worried.  
"Where do you think, darling?" Hercules chuckled.  
"Lucky's Yard!" Grampus exclaimed. "I told Captain Starr about how you helped me out, and he decided to reward you by purchasing you. You're going to be repaired and join our team!" Old Rusty looked shocked, but a broad smile appeared on his face. This was the happiest day of his life. He was finally going to be fixed!  
"Oh thank you Stars, thank you!" He boomed. Hercules and Grampus smiled at each other as they towed him away.  
These were the only sorts of salvages that mattered.


	11. Christmas

December 24th, 1923  
It was Christmas time in Bigg City, and everyone was enjoying the festive season. Fairy lights were hanging from railway bridges, cranes and boat derricks, lighting up the surrounding area. Buildings had added lights, reeds and other traditional decorations to their buildings, and real Christmas trees stood in certain parts of the city. The garbage company had made a tree out of garbage, which, strangely, only Warrior found interesting. Work was slowing down, and everyone was heading back to their sheds and docks, eager to celebrate Christmas.  
Ten Cents and Sunshine had arrived early at the Star Dock, but were rather puzzled. For some reason, their only decorations were some tinsel and baubles hanging from Captain Starr's megaphone.  
"Excuse me sir," Ten Cents called. "But why don't we have any other decorations?" Captain Starr chortled at this, making the switchers exchange looks.  
"I am getting a bit too old to be decorating trees, so I have ordered a tree to be brought down." He explained.  
"I didn't know you can do that." Sunshine gasped.  
"Well, being captain of a successful fleet does have its perks." Captain Starr added. "However, I need you two to scamper off for a little bit. I want the tree to be a surprise, and it won't be if you're here when it is delivered."  
"Aye aye sir." Ten Cents said. "Where should we go?"  
"There is a warehouse that the others are staying at. I am going to send Hermes when the tree is prepared." Captain Starr explained.  
"We'd better be off then." Sunshine said, and the two switchers turned and chugged away.

The warehouse was made entirely of wood, and looked very old. All of the walls were wet, and there were three large holes in the roof that didn't look very good. It was snowing softly on the journey, and the water was calm, and it seemed that the blizzards had gone on holiday as well. The two switchers approached the doors, and entered.  
"Hello darlings." Hercules greeted warmly, but it was obvious that he, and the others, were annoyed.  
"Hello guys." Ten Cents smiled. "Enjoying yourselves?" Top Hatt turned, and moved forwards angrily.  
"Of course not you stupid switcher!" He growled. "It is freezing in here!"  
"It is colder outside." Sunshine replied. "Notice how we are inside." OJ, Big Mac and Warrior all laughed, and Top Hatt growled.  
"Where is Grampus?" Ten Cents asked.  
"He is talking to Old Rusty I believe." OJ said.  
"Probably telling stories to each other about the Navy." Big Mac grunted.  
"Why don't we tell stories?" OJ suggested.  
"Tell stories? 'Bout what?" Warrior grunted.  
"Well, past Christmases and that sort of thing." OJ explained. "I think it'll be a fun way to pass the time."  
"Ok then, why don't you tell us a story first?" Top Hatt suggested. OJ turned, and was about to start the story, but Top Hatt interrupted. "I was joking, I don't want to hear a war story for the fifth time."  
"Now now Top Hatt darling, there is no need to get snippy!" Hercules snapped.  
"Aren't there any interesting tales from before I arrived?" Sunshine asked. Ten Cents eyes lit up, and he turned excitedly.  
"Yes, there is one, from a couple of Christmases ago." The switcher said.  
"I think I know the one." Big Mac laughed, and the others began to chuckle. Sunshine looked perplexed, and Ten Cents began.  
"Let me tell you the story of Lady Luck....."

December 24th 1919  
"It began, like most days, with a meeting with Captain Starr.  
'As you are all aware,' He stated. 'It is Christmas Eve. That means that there is going to be the annual Christmas cruise coming in.' We all nodded, excited about seeing St Nicholas again. He was a very jolly cruise ship, and always chatted to us, which a lot of cruise ships didn't do back then. We also liked him because he was the last main ship to arrive for the year, so he would bring coal and parts we needed, just in case there was an issue around Christmas.  
'Who is going to pull him sir?' Warrior asked.  
'You will be, along with Hercules and Big Mac.' There were disgruntled moans. Due to St Nicholas being a small cruise ship, only three of us would have to pull him.  
'What am I going to be doing then?' Top Hatt fumed.  
'Garbage duty of course.' Captain Starr replied, and we all chuckled at Top Hatt's face..."  
"Excuse me Ten Cents, I did not pull a face!" Top Hatt snapped. Ten Cents looked at him.  
"Be quiet Top Hatt, I am trying to tell a story!" The switcher snapped.  
"Anyway, we were all laughing at Top Hatt, as we did most days, but then OJ turned to Captain Starr.  
'What about Ten Cents and I?' He asked.  
'Ah, yes. Well, I received a message from the ferry company.' Captain Starr began, his voice a bit uneasy. I remember my eyes nearly falling out of my head, OJ's as well. The others began to crack up: the ferry company would only call us concerning one thing: Lady Luck. Lady Luck was an ancient ferry. She specialised in insulting everyone, changing her mind every few seconds, and going at outrageous speeds. People only caught her when they needed to get somewhere fast, or didn't have enough money. But Lady Luck was always having accidents, and the Coastguard would order her to be minded for several days while she took the poorer residents of the city.  
'Please say it isn't Lady Luck!' I said, nearly whimpering.  
'Sorry Ten Cents, but the Coastguard found her on top of a dock yesterday.'  
'How did she get up on a dock?' Big Mac asked.  
'No one seems to know, but it was probably a wave.' Captain Starr replied. 'Anyway, she wasn't injured, but the Coastguard wants her to be towed around the harbour today, and he wants two tugs after Warrior's disastrous efforts last time.' Warrior flushed, and we all chuckled.  
'Are you sure someone else can't do it?' OJ asked.  
'What's the matter old timer?' Top Hatt smiled. 'Can't handle a woman?'  
'No! I just don't like that wretched ferry.' OJ replied. 'We all know what a foul piece of work she is...'

"'Hurry up you two, I haven't got all bloody day.' And that was Lady Luck's greeting on a good day. Lady Luck was a creamy pink colour, with red lining around the windows and the hull. She had a wide sun hat, which covered the majority of her face. It had been damaged a lot by the sun, and her wrinkled and scrunched up face made her look like a deflated, brown beach ball. And her voice made it seem like she had been smoking, it was horrifically nasal and raspy.  
'We're coming!' OJ grumbled. The weather quite as bad as this year, but it was still cold and uncomfortable to move through the icy ocean. We managed to move through at a reasonable speed, but you had to be three hours early to please Lady Luck.  
'Well well well, they sent OJ, of course they did.' The ferry sneered. 'What's the matter, can't tow a little cruise ship?'  
'Actually, I am the best man for this job.' The paddle tug replied.  
'Oh please, that ditsy little lightship near the rocks would be more helpful.' Lady Luck snapped back.  
'Calm down you lot!' I said, moving between them.  
'Oh good, they sent the pimpsqueak.' Lady Luck groaned. OJ and I exchanged looks, and quickly were tied up to her.  
'Come on then boys, let's head off before I die of boredom.' Lady Luck growled, and we quickly towed her away, counting down the seconds until the dreadful job was over."

Ten Cents paused in his story, and Sunshine looked at him.  
"Go on, continue!"  
"I can't remember the next bit too well..." The other switcher said nervously.  
"How useless..." Top Hatt muttered, and the others stared at him.  
"Well, why you remember darling," Hercules said, moving forwards. "Why don't I tell Sunshine about how our role in this little story began, eh?"  
"Sure, that sounds cool." Sunshine smiled, and Hercules began his story.

"Our story starts, like most of our cruise ship adventures do, with us heading over towards Dender Rocks. I was looking forwards to seeing Lillie, as there was a chance we wouldn't see her the next day due to the weather. So, Big Mac, Warrior and I chugged through the chilly water. It wasn't snowing yet, but the wind was a stronger out in the open air.  
'I hope St Nicholas will be alright.' Warrior said.  
'He'll be fine darlings.' I said reassuringly. However, I wasn't too sure myself. The weather was much choppier out on open waters, and it would be very depressing if St Nicholas didn't arrive. I decide to pick up speed, wishing to see the coastguard. However, before we could reach Dender Rocks, Top Hatt sped up to us, Lord Stinker being towed behind him.  
'I need to tell you all something....' He yelled...."  
"Hercules, shouldn't I tell this part of the story?" Top Hatt said, moving up towards them.  
"If you told it, you'd just make yourself seem good." Big Mac grunted, and Warrior laughed.  
"I would not!" The railway tug grunted. "Besides, I can probably remember the event better than any of you anyway."  
"Fine Top Hatt, but make it quick!" Hercules said, and Top Hatt smiled widely.

"About twenty minutes or so before I met the others, I was taking Lord Stinker through the canals and alleys of the city. I was moving quickly, wishing to get away from that smelly pile of wood. Lord Stinker didn't like me, and I didn't like him, so we at least agreed on that. He liked to hold me up at the collection areas, which was most infuriating.  
'Look sharp Top Hatt.' The barge said to me, and I realised that Zebedee was approaching.  
'Get out of the way, Z-Stack.' I snapped. 'I actually have work to do.' Zebedee glared at me, but I just ignored him and moved past.  
'What is he up to?' Lord Stinker said.  
'What do you mean?' I asked.  
'He isn't towing a barge, which is rather strange. And I am pretty sure I saw Zorran move past us at the last collection area.' I thought that this did seem a bit suspicious. So, I decided we would follow Zebedee to wherever he was going. I made sure not to make too much or to get too close, as that would just blow our cover. After travelling for several minutes, we saw Zebedee duck inside a warehouse. It was green, and much nicer than this dump.  
'Don't make any noise.' I told Lord Stinker, and moved up to the door. I peered in through a crack, and could see that Zorran and Zak were in there as well, and we're already in discussions.  
'....if we are going to get this contract, then we need to use this plan.' Zorran was saying to Zebedee.  
'I know, but I don't see how damaging that ship is going to get us the contract.' Zebedee protested.  
'Just trust me Zebedee! You and Zak just go and get that ferry.' Zorran snapped. 'If all goes to plan, we'll have two contracts by the end of the day, and no Star Tugs left to get it back."

Sunshine looked around the shed, and was surprised that all of his fellow tugs appeared to be rather petrified by the story.  
"Guys, this is only the Z-Stacks." The little switcher said. "How could they be any worse a year before I arrived?"  
"They were more cunning before that incident." Big Mac said. "  
"Yes, you can never assume anything when it comes to that troublesome quintet!" OJ mumbled.  
"So, Top Hatt was right to be worried." Hercules said, preparing to restart his tale. "So we were quite worried when he rushed over to meet us....."

"'What's the problem darling?" I called, as Top Hatt came to a halt.  
'It's the Z-Stacks.' He said, and explained to us what he had just overheard. Obviously, we were very shocked to hear what they were planning.  
'This isn't good.' Warrior moaned.  
'How should we stop them?' Big Mac asked, turned to me.  
'I am not sure what we can do.' I replied, a bit grumpy with myself for not being able to do anything better. 'If we just leave St Nicholas there, then we'll definitely lose the contract!' I pondered for a few moments, and then smiled. 'Top Hatt, I need you to go and warn Ten Cents and OJ, we can't let the Z's get to Lady Luck. We'll continue with our duty, but will be on the lookout for them.'  
'Is that all we can do?' Top Hatt sighed.  
'Let's just go!' Lord Stinker said, and the two headed off.  
'Come on, let's bring St Nicholas in quickly.' I told the others. 'If we can dock him within the hour, then he'll be under protection and they won't be able to harm him.' And with that, we headed out towards Dender Rocks."

"Wow, they must have been bad back in the day." Sunshine said. As Hercules had been telling his story, snow had started to fall more heavily through the hole. The tugs bunched together, not wishing to freeze.  
"I think we need to tell the next part of Lady Luck's story." Big Mac said, looking over at Ten Cents.  
"I'd like to continue it, but I can't really remember." The switcher said sadly.  
"Don't worry, I am pretty sure I am remembering the right incident." OJ said. He moved forwards, careful to avoid the snow, and began to recount.

"We had been towing that darn ferry for about half an hour, and had made several stops during that time. Of course, we should have made more, but Lady Luck isn't the easiest character to deal with.  
'Hurry up you lot!' She snapped as we passed the crane dock.  
'We are trying to, but you could be helping us out.' I snapped, giving her a heave.  
'I really would like to, but I am just not in the mood to do any form of work at the moment.' She replied, and let out a wheezy cackle. The snow was picking up then as well, and bits of it where landing on her hat, which deeply irritated her.  
'Can you mindless Neanderthals notice that I am getting snowed on?' She hissed.  
'Everything is being snowed on.' Ten Cents retorted. The weather was not helping our tempers, and to make matters worse, there was an upturned barge overhead.  
'How did that happen?' I growled. We began to slow down, and Lady Luck spat some smoke into the air.  
'I didn't give you permission to stop!' She said.  
'Unless you want to drive into that barge, we need to stop.' Ten Cents replied, and Lady Luck just sniffed. The barge was very long, and took up most of the canal. On the other side, the fire tug was there, along with several deputies and Mighty Moe.  
'Sorry about this fellas!' He called. 'Some fool smashed into it and knocked it over.'  
'Hmmm...' Ten Cents said with a hint of sarcasm. 'When you say fools, two names happen to come to mind.'  
'Let me guess, they are both three letters long and start with Z?' I asked, and we both chuckled. Lady Luck let out a laugh as well, but stopped when she realised we noticed.  
'Those Z-Stacks are idiots, aren't they? They even make you two seem good at your job.' Then, we heard something sneer. We looked around, and realised that two tugboats we're watching us.  
'Ten Cents, we need to move, quickly!' I yelled, and began to turn. However, it was too late. Zebedee and Zak sped out of the shadows, heading straight towards our ropes.  
'We need help!' Ten Cents yelled. The Fire Tug must have heard us, because several seconds later, four jets of water came over the barge, being aimed in various directions.  
'Why does everyone like you lot!?' Zak yelled. He drove into Ten Cents, loosening the rope. A jet of water hit him a second later, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Zebedee rammed into me, and slammed me up against Lady Luck.  
'Stop fighting, you'll scratch my paint!' She exclaimed. Ten Cents and I were trying to stop them, but they had damaged our ropes, and then mine snapped. Zebedee and Zak both came for me, and slammed me into Ten Cents, snapping his rope as well. Lady Luck yelled as the two Z-Stacks began to tie themselves to her.  
'Merry Christmas Stars!" Zebedee said, and the two laughed loudly, and sped off with the ferry, leaving us bruised and rather ashamed."

There was a moment of silence in the warehouse, only broken by the sound of the snow falling and battering them.  
"Top Hatt, I believe you need to recall your part next." Hercules said. Top Hatt had been staring angrily at the snow, and looked up, surprised.  
"My part... oh yes, Zorran and Big Mickey." The railway tug smiled. "Yes, this part does come next. Out of the way OJ, time to add some humour to this."

"So, Lord Stinker and I had head off, searching for any sign of a Z. The snow was falling more heavily now, and the journey was becoming rather uncomfortable. I was miles away from OJ and Ten Cents, but I didn't know this at the time, and was wondering around the old iron yard. Big Mickey's tall frame was easily visible, and he even had a light on, which helped guide me towards him.  
'Big Mickey, could you do me a favour?' I called out.  
'Certainly Top Hatt, what do you need?' The crane replied friendly.  
'Is there any chance that you can see Ten Cents or OJ, or have seen them some time recently?' I asked.  
'The weather is a bit too rough to see anything.' Big Mickey replied. 'And I haven't seen them at all today. However, I can see something approaching...' I was shocked, and turned to find Zorran approaching my, looking rather ghost coming through the snow.  
'I thought something overheard us back at the warehouse.' He snarled, and came right up alongside me. 'I recommend you go off and deliver this garbage Top Hatt, unless you want me to sink you.'  
'You don't scare me Zorran!' I replied, but he was more intimidating back then.  
'Very well then. Say hi to the fishies for me!' And he charged towards me.  
'Top Hatt, move!' Lord Stinker yelled. I obviously reversed, but realised the barge had warned me for another reason. Unbeknownst to me, Big Mickey had been carrying several pipes when we showed up. As Zorran threatened me, he started to position them, and then drop! The pipes all fell down, but only two of the hit Zorran. Thankfully, they were able to shake him up, and I swung Lord Stinker around, tipping the garbage on him.  
'This is disgusting!' Zorran yelled. I laughed, and quickly hurried away, as Big Mickey lowered his hook, planning on holding onto him."

"Ah, Big Mickey was such a good friend." Big Mac said.  
"It was so awful how he went." Warrior added.  
"Shall we have a minute's silence?" OJ suggested. They all nodded, and remained quiet. The snow even stopped making noise, paying its respect to the giant as well. The minute passed, and OJ nodded that they could speak again.  
"Ok, looks like it is back to us!" Hercules said, and turned to Sunshine once more.

"We had no idea of what we going on to the others, so we went to Dender Rocks. St Nicholas was waiting for us, having a catch up with Lillie.  
'Hello darlings.' I called, and winked at Lillie, who giggled.  
'Good to see you all again.' St Nicholas boomed. 'This is rather nasty weather, shall we move along?'  
'Definitely, before the Z's get here.' Warrior said, laughing.  
'The Z-Stack's?' Lillie asked, and Big Mac and I laughed nervously.  
'Nothing to worry about, just a little issue.' I said, and we rushed into position. We were tied up, and quickly moved onwards. The snow was making conversation nearly impossible, so we moved on in silence. The wind getting stronger, and St Nicholas wobbled slightly.  
'We need to move faster!' Big Mac yelled.  
'Of course, but we would need more power.' I replied. We were all stressed out, and could barely see a metre in front of us. We had been going forwards for about half an hour when we were approached from all sides.  
At the front, Zebedee and Zak appeared, with Lady Luck wailing behind them. Then, from our right, Top Hatt and Lord Stinker burst through the curtain of snow.  
'Watch out, Z's!' I yelled.  
'I'll take care of them!' Top Hatt bellowed, and charged for them.  
'What is going on?' St Nicholas said. We ignored him, desperate to get past them. But Lady Luck's passengers were yelling, angry about being so far off course.  
'Quickly, get between them!' Zak yelled, and he and Zebedee dragged Lady Luck towards Hercules and Warrior.  
'Don't let them get between us!' I yelled, and Warrior edged closer to the cruise ship.  
'I demand you let go of me at once!' Lady Luck huffed, and she suddenly turned to her left.  
'I didn't know she was moving herself.' Zebedee grunted.  
'Quick Lord Stinker, attack!' Top Hatt yelled, and loosened Lord Stinker's ropes. Zak watched in horror as Top Hatt spun around, and Lord Stinker came loose, and skidded across the water and crashed into him. Zak then bumped into Zebedee, and they went off course. Lady Luck quickly directed herself, and I ended up ploughing through the ropes, snapping them.  
'Hoorah!' Top Hatt yelled.  
'Quickly, go and get the Coastguard, we need to have these trouble makers taken away.' I said, and Big Mac, Warrior and I pulled the cruise ship forwards, heading for a clear run for the docks."

Hercules had finished, and Sunshine looked very pleased.  
"That seems like a rather adventurous story, what happened afterwards?" He asked.  
"Well, the ferry company sued the Z-Stacks for kidnapping her, and then the owners of the barge sued them as well for tipping it over." Big Mac began.  
"They were heavily bankrupted, and it was wonderful!" Top Hatt added.  
"Lady Luck got repaired, and she has become less crabby." Ten Cents continued. "And as she was working better, than sent her up river shortly before you arrived."  
"St Nicholas understood what had happened, but he wasn't allowed to return after that incident, in case his passengers were injured." Hercules said.  
"Oh." Sunshine said, and he noticed his friends looked rather sad. Just then, the water shifted, and Grampus emerged, and sprayed them all with water.  
"Do you mind?" Top Hatt grunted.  
"Sorry, but the tree has arrived." Grampus said, and ducked a second later as the tugs all barged for the door.

Ten minutes later, they all arrived back at Star Dock, and gasped.  
Old Rusty had been towed out of the works, and was decorated with some tinsel. The Christmas Tree was up, and was as tall as the megaphone. It was decorated traditionally, with tinsel, some lights, baubles and wooden carvings. There were even two reindeer near it, along with some presents.  
"Merry Christmas!" Captain Starr and Old Rusty said together, and everyone hooted and chorused it in reply.  
"I wasn't sure what the best present would be, but I worked it out in the end." Captain Starr said. In the distance, they all heard a horn, and they turned around. Smoke was rising from around the cruise ship dock, and Top Hatt raised his head and could recognise the funnels.  
"ST NICHOLAS!" He boomed, and everyone cheered.  
"Looks like it is going to be a great Christmas this year." Ten Cents said, and everyone nodded in agreement. Whatever the weather and economic situation was, all those things disappeared to make way for the magic of the holidays.


	12. Torrent

Christmas and New Year's had been and gone, leaving behind, briefly, a cheerful atmosphere, making them all feel better after the bad weather and economic issues. However, as the days went by, the weather became a bit warmer, but the Christmas spirit quickly evaporated. The Star Tugs were back at work quickly after the New Year, and were working hard to clear up after the festivities and get things running as smoothly as possible.  
"I hope that this year won't be as eventful as the past few months have been." Captain Starr had said on New Year's Day. "So behave yourselves, and try and avoid danger."  
That was very difficult when the danger surrounded them every minute of the day: Water

January 6th 1924

Early in the morning, the Star Tugs awoke early, having been woken up by Grampus squirting water in their faces.  
"Do you mind?" Top Hatt snapped.  
"I was ordered thanks." Grampus grunted.  
"I need you all awake early, we have a very busy day today." Captain Starr boomed.  
"Why, what's happening?" OJ asked.  
"There seem to be a lot of issues Up River, and they need us some of us up there to clear up." The Captain said.  
"What sort of problems?" Sunshine said, eyebrows raised.  
"I am not sure what the issue is, but lots of trees have fallen over and Lord Lucky and Boomer have both called for our assistance. So, I need Ten Cents, Sunshine, OJ, Top Hatt and Hercules up there. You can divide the jobs up between you as you go." Captain Starr finished.  
"That sounds wonderful darling." Hercules beamed.  
"Let's head off then." Ten Cents smiled, and they five whistled goodbye to Big Mac, Warrior and Grampus and began to head away.

The Z-Stacks watched grumpily as the Star Tugs passed, smiling and chatting about their jobs.  
"Their happiness makes me sick." Zorran hissed. He then turned around to face Zebedee and Zak. "Ok, today we are taking scrap from Burke and Blair's yard and up to the big scrapyard near Mittsville. Those twins will possibly give us a contract if we do a good enough job, so this is very important."  
"Shouldn't we be helping then?" Zip asked.  
"Oh please, you'd probably sink every barge that came your way." Zak snapped.  
"Hey, I'm not as clumsy as that stupid Warrior!" Zip said sadly.  
"Want to bet on it?" Zug chuckled.  
"Anyway," Zorran boomed. "some of the Stars are going to be there as well. Don't be afraid to upset their charity work if the opportunity arises."  
"Good show Zorran!" Captain Zero sniggered. "Now hurry up and collect you're loads, I want to see that contract on my desk by the end of the day."

The Star Tugs split up before they headed Up River: OJ and Top Hatt went to collect several barges and Mighty Moe, as they had to clear away some fallen trees. Hercules and the two switchers began to head towards their jobs.  
"I think I'll tend to Lord Lucky, if you don't mind darlings." Hercules said, smiling down at his friends.  
"That seems fine, we'll go and see Boomer on our way to get Little Ditcher." Ten Cents said.  
"Is it me, or does it seem a lot nosier on the river today?" Sunshine asked. The three tugs paused for a second, but found themselves being forced back towards the city.  
"The current is a lot stronger today." Hercules said, looking down at the raging water.  
"Make sure you ask Lord Lucky about it, he'll know the cause." Ten Cents chuckled, and the two switchers began to head off. Hercules smiled at the joke, and was feeling rather happy as he raced up, thinking he'd be going towards the steamship terminal, but when he turned a corner, he was shocked to see that Lord Lucky was there.  
"Lord Lucky, what's happened darling?" Hercules boomed. Lord Lucky turned his head, and smiled brightly.  
"Ah, top of the morning to you Hercules." The steamship chuckled. "I seem to have gotten stuck in this particularly muddy bank." Hercules checked, and gasped, as Lord Lucky's left side was buried in mud.  
"This doesn't seem like you to get in an accident." The ocean goer said, as he began to attach a rope. Lord Lucky suddenly frowned, and looked a lot older.  
"It is bad times to be leaving Up River." He said sombrely. "Have you noticed that it hasn't being snow much lately?"  
"Really? I thought it snowed just the other day."  
"It did, but it was only a light, happy falling. The serious blizzards have gone away, and the weather is become cooler." And Lord Lucky looked towards the bank he was stuck in. "The snow is melting, I can hear it dripping onto my decks. And the river doesn't cope well when then happens."  
"The water does seem strong today." Hercules agreed.  
"Quite. My journey was fine about half an hour ago, but then the water suddenly changed, and I found myself going out of control."  
"Well, as soon as I have pulled you out, you can guarantee we'll find the cause of that problem." Hercules said cheerily, but he was beginning to worry. If Lord Lucky had gone out of control halfway through his journey, that could mean only one thing.....

The Mittsville Lake was manmade, and had only been around for several months. It had been created entirely to be frozen, so people could play on it when the weather wasn't too bad. A small dam had been built to stop the water from leaking out when it started to melt. However, there had been a rush to complete it, and the dam wasn't as structurally sound as they first thought. Once more, they had added too much water when they had frozen it, and the lake was now quickly melting.  
Boomer's home was near the lake, and he hadn't minded at first, as it was good for all the construction to be done. But his owner had gone away on a cruise, annoyed about all the people coming by and making noise, leaving Boomer all alone and rather depressed.  
"I wish I could be doing something." He thought. "Even when I was with the Star Tugs, I occasionally did something useful. But now, I haven't moved in ages." Suddenly, there were two loud whistles, and Boomer looked excitedly as Ten Cents and Sunshine moved into view.  
"Hello Boomer!" Ten Cents yelled.  
"Hi guys, I haven't seen you two in ages." Boomer grinned.  
"I know, it's been about two months!" Sunshine agreed.  
"So, how have things been for you?" Ten Cents asked, and the two switchers were surprised to see Boomer look rather upset.  
"My owner has gone away on a crew. I have been stuck out in the cold for weeks, I can barely feel any part of my frame anymore." Boomer explained sadly. "And now that the current is getting stronger, I am being forced downstream more." Sunshine looked, and Boomer's mooring was becoming strained and weak.  
"You seem to be in a right pickle." The little switcher said.  
"Don't worry Boomer, we'll bring you a new mooring after we get Little Ditcher." Ten Cents smiled.  
"Thanks guys. If you have work to do, don't let me hold you up." Boomer grinned.  
"We'll see you shortly." Sunshine smiled, and the two Stars headed up towards Mittsville, leaving Boomer much happier.  
"I feel sorry for him." Sunshine whispered.  
"Don't worry, I think a new mooring will cheer him up." Ten Cents said hopefully. As they chatted, they didn't realise that water was trickling over the top of the dam.

Zebedee and Zak had collected their scrap first, and were now working their way towards Up River. They were towing two barges each, along with a barge between them, which had the remains of the tram steamer that had crushed before Christmas.  
"Why isn't Zorran helping us out?" Zak croaked.  
"He had to discuss something with Burke and Blair." Zebedee explained with sigh.  
"What's got your rudder in a bunch?" Zak snapped.  
"I just woke up on the wrong side of the dock this morning." Zebedee replied, irritated. Zak was going to continue, but sighed as well, and they continued their journey. Zebedee was happy, as he had to think about a few things. A few minutes later, they reached the river mouth.  
The two froze.  
There had been a landslide on the left side of the river, and it had brought a tree down with it, blocking over more than half the river.  
"We probably won't be able to fit past the tree." Zebedee said, looking at the barge between them. However, Zak was smiling enthusiastically.  
"Do you realise what this means?" He croaked.  
"What?" Zebedee asked, getting concerned. But Zak just stared excitedly at the landslide, and then raced away, pulling Zebedee with him.  
"STOP!" Zebedee yelled, but Zak wouldn't listen. After a minute, they saw Zorran coming towards them, and Zak whistled happily.  
"Why are you here, why aren't you delivering the loads?" Zorran snapped, coming to a stop.  
"There has been a landslide at the river mouth." Zak said, and Zorran's angry face turned to happiness.  
"Would someone like to inform me why this is good?" Zebedee asked, and the other Z's glared at him.  
"Those Stars are up there." Zorran growled, as if the answer was obvious. "So, if we can make it that it would be more difficult to get out, we can trap them up there."  
"It is ingenious." Zak smiled.  
"Yes, as we have done it before." Zebedee added, and got another nasty look.  
"We'll make it work this time." Zorran growled, and moved forwards. "Now shut your trap, or we'll be delivering your parts to the scrap yard next week." Zebedee nodded, and began to turn, as Zorran started to explain his full plan.

Top Hatt and OJ had collected Mighty Moe and three barges, and were now heading towards Up River.  
"Ah, it is so good to be doing easy work." Top Hatt smiled.  
"This isn't that easy." OJ said. "We do have to make a long journey."  
"Kindly don't ruin my fun, old timer." Top Hatt snapped, and Mighty Moe smirked. OJ rolled his eyes, and they continued their journey in silence. Mighty Moe got bored after a while, and he and OJ sparked up a conversation. Top Hatt went to interrupt them, but then gasped.  
"Cut the gossiping and look ahead!" The railway tug spluttered.  
"What now?" Mighty Moe asked, but he stopped with OJ as they saw the landslide.  
"Oh no, this is horrible!" OJ cried.  
"Looks like we have our first job." Top Hatt sighed.  
"I think we should check with Hercules first, see if they noticed it." OJ said.  
"They would have contacted Hermes." Mighty Moe said.  
"I'll go see him." OJ said. "You two try and clear that tree." Top Hatt and Mighty Moe agreed, and OJ headed off, hoping to find some answers or help.

Ten Cents and Sunshine were searching around Mittsville, looking for Little Ditcher.  
"It's not like him to be gone." Ten Cents said.  
"Well, he doesn't belong to us." Sunshine joked. "Someone probably needs to get their cat out of a tree." The two switchers laughed, and continued their search. For half an hour they checked every inch of the city, and soon became very desperate. They were about to give up when they saw the crane being towed past the water tower, which now had brand new supports.  
"LITTLE DITCHER!" Ten Cents yelled, and they saw the crane turn, along with the tug pulling him.  
"Look, it's Uncle!" Sunshine gasped. Uncle smiled broadly.  
"It is so good to see you two." He said, wheezing slightly.  
"Have you been well?" Ten Cents asked.  
"I have been doing well. I took over my nephew's jobs at the munitions factory. They like me there, as I don't knock the gunpowder over." Uncle chuckled.  
"Have you seen Sea Rogue?" Sunshine asked.  
"They don't allow visitors at Hell." Uncle said, and sniffed slightly, looking uncomfortable. Ten Cents gave Sunshine a look, but Uncle didn't get any more upset.  
"I think I should head off with them now." Little Ditcher said.  
"Oh, yes yes." Uncle smiled. "Thanks for your help with the construction." Uncle untied the small crane, bid his farewells, and quickly head off.  
"Let's head back to Boomer then, I think I saw a tree that needed attending to." Sunshine said. Ten Cents nodded, and the three began to head back.

The mud had formed a casing over Lord Lucky, and Hercules was struggling to pull him out.  
"Could you give me a hand?" The tugboat said, straining as he tried again. Lord Lucky chuckled, and looked downwards, though several metres away from Hercules.  
"Hercules... isn't he supposed to be strong?" The steamship teased, and Hercules chuckled, but the rope snapped, and flew backwards, and hit something rather solid.  
"Oh, sorry OJ." Hercules said, both their glasses askew. "What are you doing here?"  
"There is a landslide at the river mouth." OJ said, and Hercules and Lord Lucky gasped.  
"You two must attend to it!" Lord Lucky said.  
"Top Hatt and Mighty Moe are trying to clear a tree away, but we need help with the mud part of it." OJ said.  
"If you help me try and tow him out of the mud, I'll come down and help you out." Hercules smiled, and OJ nodded, and they began to work.

"Why is it that I always have to spend my time clearing up these messes?" Mighty Moe let out a sigh as he cleared away several rocks, listening to Top Hatt's continued rants about work.  
"Aren't tugboats supposed to be nice and friendly and helpful?" The crane asked. Top Hatt gave him a nasty look, and froze.  
"Tugboats are nice and friendly and helpful, you just caught me on a bad day." The railway tug huffed. "But there is nothing wrong with tugboats, so don't make the stereotype that we are bad!"  
As they spoke, Zorran and Zak were moving towards the river, three of their barges tied sideways between them. Zebedee followed slowly behind to make sure they didn't break loose. Zak and Zorran kept exchanging giggly looks, and Zebedee was beginning to feel a bit bad. They finally reached the river mouth, and Zak gasped, realising that Top Hatt and Mighty Moe were just on the other side. Zorran gave him a look, and then went to tie his end to a wooden pole that read "UP RIVER". Zak nodded, and tied his end to a tree that was half-buried in water. Then, the three reversed, Zorran and Zak looking very happy.  
And Top Hatt hadn't noticed a thing.

Boomer had started to doze off, as the clouds were blocking out the sun, and the water was rocking him to sleep. However, he heard two whistles, and was instantly awake, beaming as his friends approached him.  
"Finally, I thought you had forgotten about me." Boomer chuckled.  
"Sorry, I was doing another job." Little Ditcher called apologetically.  
"Don't worry, we can be together now." Sunshine smiled. They continued forwards, going a bit faster, when Ten Cents froze. He looked past Little Ditcher, and gasped.  
"Is water meant to be going over that wall?" He asked. Boomer and Sunshine looked at the dam, where water was pouring over the top, and several bricks had been moved.  
"That's the dam, it's supposed to hold the water in!" Boomer yelled. Before the switchers could react, there was a loud crack and a smash, and the dam collapsed. All the water from the lake began to pour out, and smashed into the two switchers.  
"Glod gon!" Little Ditcher gurgled, as the water tried to push him under. However, the little crane swung his hook, and managed to grab onto a tree. Ten Cents, who had been about to head unwillingly down river, was jerked backwards, the water cascading over his cab. Sunshine and Boomer weren't so lucky.  
"Watch out!" Sunshine yelled, who was at the front of the rapids. He smashed into Boomer, and the house boats moorings snapped. The two, along with the lakes contents, began to head down towards the river mouth.  
"How are we going to help them?" Ten Cents yelled, as he moved himself out of the water.  
"Wait until we have stopped being attacked, then we can go." Little Ditcher said, and Ten Cents nodded, and they both stared down the river, where they could just make out Sunshine twirling around in the torrent.

As the water headed downstream, a loud, booming whistle echoed around the banks.  
"Ah, I feels good to be free." Lord Lucky smiled. Though his green and white paint was covered in mud, and even his moustache was mud encrusted, he felt good to be out of the bank.  
"Thanks for helping out OJ." Hercules smiled.  
"Oh, it is nothing, as long as you two lend us a hand." OJ chuckled.  
"Of course, we can't have the mouth blocked up." Hercules said. The three were about to move, but Lord Lucky suddenly looked very worried.  
"What is it?" OJ asked, as the steamship looked behind him.  
"Move forwards, now, and make sure I am not directly behind you." He boomed, looking frightened.  
"But-"  
"DO IT!" He yelled, losing his calm nature completely. OJ and Hercules rushed forwards, confused, but had their questions answered a few seconds later. There was a sound like a waterfall behind them, mixed in with screams. Hercules couldn't help looking, and gasped.  
A wave of extra water was swallowing up the banks and the rocks, bringing down weak trees and causing several sections of land to splash into the water. Sunshine and Boomer were at the front, screaming loudly, but they were silenced as they smashed into Lord Lucky. The three began to move down river, and Hercules sped up, trying to catch up with OJ, as the wall of water and metal came closer and closer.

Zorran and Zak had left to collect the large barge, leaving Zebedee to make sure everything went to plan. Top Hatt was continuing to rant, and neither he or Mighty Moe had noticed the barges.  
"It seems Zorran finally has a plan that has worked." Zebedee sighed. Just then, there were the sounds of screams, and Zebedee nestled up to a barge, listening in.  
"Mighty Moe, whatever is going on?" Top Hatt asked, turning.  
"It looks like OJ is coming back... and fast!" Mighty Moe gasped, and Top Hatt raised his wheelhouse, hoping for a better view.  
"What the-" He gulped. OJ was racing down the river, whistling and screaming, while Hercules followed a little bit behind. As they rounded a slight bend, Lord Lucky appeared as well, moving sideways and scraping his front as the water forced him down the river.  
"Move the barges, we need protection!" OJ yelled, and he manoeuvred between a barge and the landslide. Top Hatt and Mighty Moe quickly followed, and Hercules just managed to squeeze in.  
"Don't worry, I am sure Lord Lucky's force should break the tree, freeing most of us." Hercules puffed. Zebedee gasped, as he realised that they wouldn't be able to escape unless the barges were set free.  
"Here comes the Irish." Top Hatt groaned, as Lord Lucky smashed into the barges. The Star Tugs groaned, as they were forced backwards.  
"This is very uncomfortable." Lord Lucky snapped. "At least the mud is getting washed off."  
"Not the time for jokes!" OJ said, and he growled as the barge began to break up, and the tree started to bend backwards.  
"Why isn't the landslide moving?" Hercules huffed. There were several gurgles, and Lord Lucky looked down and gasped, as Sunshine and Boomer were about halfway up Lord Lucky's body, nearly drowning.  
"If we don't move soon, there is going to be trouble." The steamship said. The barges were badly breaking, and the tugs and Mighty Moe could feel the strain. Water was moving past Lord Lucky, hitting Hercules. Zebedee could see them all struggling, and let out a sigh. Zorran wouldn't like it, but Captain Zero wouldn't like getting the blame for this. Quickly, the harbour tug swung his body around, and smashed into the pole. It snapped cleanly in two, but the rope was tied to the bottom of it. Zebedee groaned, and then sped past the barges. Lord Lucky's cab was turned in his direction, and the steamship faintly heard a movement, but obviously couldn't see it was Zebedee. The Z-Stack reached the tree, and he quickly began to pull on the rope. The tree began to slid down the hill, and the barges moved slightly. Smiling, Zebedee gave the rope one last big pull, and the tree fell off, crashing into the water. The landslide began to move, and OJ could touch the barge behind him.  
"Something is going on." The paddle tug said. Several seconds later, the tree snapped cleanly, and the landslide toppled over. OJ, Top Hatt, Hercules and Mighty Moe flew backwards, just as the barges were broken. The water forced Lord Lucky out, and Sunshine and Boomer landed in the water, soaking wet and gasping for breath. The wave splashed them all as it began to mix in with the ocean.  
"That was a close call." Sunshine puffed. OJ looked around: there were three barges, two of which had capsized, nearby. Pieces of scrap were in one of them, and they were all tied together with rope. He looked over to where the tree had fallen.  
No one was there.

Hercules was able to lead Lord Lucky back up the river to his home. Ten Cents brought Little Ditcher down, and they helped Mighty Moe lift the barge pieces and trees into spare barges brought by OJ. While that was being done, Sunshine took Boomer back to his area.  
"It was nice to see you all again, even if it was a bit dramatic." Boomer chuckled.  
"I promise to visit you more often." Sunshine smiled. "Oh, and you'd be pleased to hear that Captain Starr is lodging a complaint about the lake. He is very influential, so it probably won't be turned into a big tourist attraction." Boomer smiled widely at this.  
"Hopefully my owner finds out so he can come home."  
"I am sure he'll be back soon." Sunshine said encouragingly. "There are always cruise ships coming through Bigg City, and one of them must be his." Boomer's smile was a bit weaker, but he and Sunshine chatted away, talking about the Stars many winter adventures, until Ten Cents dragged him home after dropping off Little Ditcher.  
"Bye Boomer, hope to see you again soon." The switchers called.  
"Bye, say hello to everyone else for me!" Boomer said, and he watched as his friends went home, feeling considerably happier than he had when they arrived.


	13. Archer

Archer

Winter was close to finish its annual run. It was no longer snowing quite as much, and the Up River was no longer being affected as it melted away. There was still fog, but it was no longer quite as thick or a bother to the tugs when they started their early morning jobs. Lillie was reporting less and less near misses, and everyone was becoming a lot cheerier.  
That was, until....

January 13th 1924

"I am sorry to report that the Big Melon Company will be closing down within the next few days." Captain Starr announced. The Stars were shocked, and instantly began to blabble at the same time.  
"That can't be!"  
"They always seemed to be doing so well."  
"What's going to happen to them?"  
"Will the warehouse remain?"  
"QUIET!" Captain Starr boomed, and they ceased their discussion. "The warehouse is going to remain, a new company has brought the facilities."  
"Why are they leaving anyway?" Sunshine huffed.  
"They have hit some bad financial troubles, and have to relocate to a cheaper building at Uptown." Captain Starr continued. "As we have done business with them for the past few years, I want you all to go and wish them farewell sometime over the next few days." The tugs and Grampus agreed, though they were sad Hercules wouldn't be able to say goodbye, as he was away on a special job. So over the next two days, they all said goodbye. Some of them helped out with taking loads to Puffa, who was taking them up on his trains. Others merely did a last delivery for them. And by the 16th, they were gone.

January 19th 1924

Izzy Gomez looked left, and then right. The Coast Guard was nowhere to be seen, and Hermes was in discussion with Lillie. It was the perfect opportunity. With a devious smile, and a puff of steam, the Mexican began to rush towards the port limits. He could hear the sounds of steam engines in the distance, smell the smoke wafting out of every machine in there, and not a single tug was in sight.  
"Finally, what I have always dreamed off." Izzy muttered, slurring his accent as he spoke with excitement. But as he passed the sandbanks, a figure appeared. Izzy gasped, and turned, and his stern hit the bank.  
"Aye aye aye, what are you doing here?" The tram steamer jabbered. He stared down at the boat that pulled in front of him.  
She was a switcher, around the same size as Ten Cents. Her hull and areas of her bow were black, but the rest of her was rosy red. A cream line went around her funnel, and she had a deep purple hat, with a very wide brim and a cream band as well. She had a very pretty face, which was pale, but she had lovely red lips, with matching eyeshadow. Her name was covered in some sort of yellow liquid, and splinters of wood were on her cream deck.  
"Hello Izzy, wonderful to see you two." She smirked, her voice slightly deep but very seductive.  
"Wha-wha-what are you doing here?" Izzy said, looking around.  
"Oh, I am staying here now." The switcher replied, smiling widely, and Izzy began to splutter more. "I don't see why you are so afraid, though I suppose Mr Geve will be rather upset with you."  
"Oh-he is here to then?" Izzy asked, his voice much higher than usual, and the tug smiled.  
"Come on, let me take you in." She said, and began to attach a line. "But hey, look on the positive side; you get free tows from now on." And with Izzy still spluttering and gasping for breath, the female tug began to tow him away.

OJ, Warrior and Big Mac were feeling a bit grumpy. That morning, Captain Starr had told everyone that a new company had already moved in: the Fruit and Vegetable Corporation. They were a big brand company, and had warehouses all over the world. They had managed to secure a deal on the old Big Melon warehouse, and had quickly moved in.  
"They have moved to fast." Big Mac huffed, as they moved through the waters. "The Big Melon Co are gone for two seconds and they are already taking over."  
"Yeah, couldn't they have waited a while?" Warrior moaned.  
"I am not happy about losing the Big Melon Co, however, I think that-" OJ began, but Big Mac blew his hooter.  
"Are you justifying these people's actions?" Big Mac asked, his eyes bulging and his big jaw clenched.  
"No... well, not really." OJ said, looking a bit nervous. "But, they might have had to have moved in as part of their contract, or they could have some sort of business, or..."  
"Just be quiet." Big Mac snapped, and he sped away, looking very cross.  
"Don't talk to me like that, sonny!" OJ snapped, and Warrior moved in front.  
"We should let him calm down for a bit, he seems to be in a bit of a bad mood." He said, and OJ nodded.  
"Don't usually here you given advice." The two turned, and saw the Fire Tug passing, smiley widely. "Better calm down there OJ, or I may have to cool you off."  
"Don't worry, I am not that angry." OJ chuckled.  
"A storm is on its way." The Fire Tug said, and the two Stars looked out, and could see dark clouds moving in.  
"I wouldn't want to be caught out when that comes down." Warrior shivered.  
"Watch out for yourselves then!" The Fire Tug said, and moved off. OJ and Warrior whistled, and then moved off.  
Big Mac had arrived at the warehouse, and was staring around at the surroundings. A large sign, bearing the company name with a variety of smiling apples, oranges and watermelons around it. A tram steamer that was painted a steely grey with dark blue lining was docked next to the warehouse, which had was being repainted a fluro orange. A bright yellow crane was at the bow of the tram steamer, and was unloading a load of fruit. A Union Jack flag was flapping from his stern.  
"Hello there." The tram steamer said. "My name is the Adrmial of the Orchard, but everyone just calls me Admiral."  
"I didn't ask for your bloody life story." Big Mac snapped, and turned away. Adrmial was rather shocked, and looked rather hurt. But at that moment, OJ and Warrior appeared.  
"Hello there." OJ said kindly, and Adrmial picked up, though OJ earned a dirty look from Big Mac.  
"Hello, my name is Adrmial of the Orchard, but everyone calls me Admiral." Admiral said, hoping to get a better reception.  
"My name is OJ, and this is Warrior and Big Mac." OJ explained.  
"'Ello." Warrior smiled, but ceased at Big Mac's look.  
"Oh, aren't you lot a part of the Star Tugs?" Admiral asked. "That lightship, Lillie, mentioned something about you guys."  
"Yes, we are the Stars, we are well known in these parts." OJ said.  
"We have come here looking for work." Warrior said. There was a high pitched hoot form behind them, and they all turned.  
"Sorry boys, but this company is only big enough for one of us." A very attractive female tug was coming their way. Izzy Gomez was being towed behind her, looking very grumpy. He looked even more surly when he noticed Admiral.  
"You didn't tell he was going to be here." He grumbled.  
"Well of course he is going to be here, he works for us." The tug snapped.  
"Excuse me, but who are you exactly?" OJ asked. The tug looked at him, and smiled widely. OJ was a bit stunned, but then she moved, and a shadow was no longer cast across her face.  
"Archer!" OJ boomed, and smiled broadly.  
"I thought it was you." The female tug, apparently called Archer, chuckled.  
"You know each other?" Big Mac gasped.  
"Yes, we meet when I was away having some repairs down late in '22." OJ said.  
"Ah, it is always nice to see a familiar face." Archer smiled, and pushed past, pulling Izzy with her.  
"Er, you have some stuff over your name." Warrior said, who was staring madly at her. Archer looked down, and sighed.  
"Yes, well, SOMEONE was a bit clumsy this morning." Archer snapped, staring pointedly at Admiral, who blushed and looked away.  
"I have hose, I could get it off." Warrior said eagerly.  
"It's fine, don't bother." Archer said, and took Izzy over to a different section of the dock. As Archer untied herself, she looked over at OJ. "Care to give me a tour?" She asked.  
"Most certainly, I think it is the least that I owe you." The paddle tug beamed, and he turned away, and Archer followed after, the two talking like old friends, while Warrior and Big Mac watched them leave, stunned.

Old Rusty's rebuild was going well. He was going to have a blue-grey colour like Grampus, with a cream lining to match the rest of the Stars. A large stack, identical to the tugs, had been made, and Ten Cents and Pearl were bringing it in.  
"I can't wait until Old Rusty is fixed." Ten Cents was saying excitedly.  
"I have only met him once." Pearl said. "I think it would be nice to get to know him better." As they moved, the wind seemed to be picking up. The tarpaulin was flapping, and Pearl was worried it would fly off.  
"Don't worry, we are nearly there." Ten Cents said, as Lucky's Yard came into sight.  
"This wind is very annoying!" Pearl snapped, and she looked at the sky. "I wouldn't want to be out tonight."  
"Sadly, I have to." Ten Cents said gloomily.  
"How come?"  
"Burke and Blair have this scrap contract, and Sunshine and I have to go and collect some barges from Mittsville and bring them back down." Ten Cents explained. They had now reached Lucky's Yard, and Old Rusty was right inside the warehouse, surrounded by lots of scaffolding.  
"Hello there Ten Cents, Pearl!" He boomed, making himself heard as Sally Seaplane landed behind them.  
"Doing well?" Ten Cents asked.  
"I haven't felt this alive in years, I'll tell you that." Old Rusty grinned. A crane came over, and the stack was lifted out of Pearl. She had gone very quiet, and seemed to be feeling a bit awkward by Ten Cents and Old Rusty's friendship.  
"So Pearl, how are things going?" Old Rusty asked, giving a stab at conversation.  
"Oh- well, nothing much, the usual...." Pearl stuttered. She looked away, and gasped. "Who's that?" Old Rusty looked, and Ten Cents turned. OJ was chatting to Sally, and the most attractive tugboat was alongside, laughing loudly and happily.  
"Woah." Ten Cents muttered, and Pearl giggled.  
"Hello OJ, who is the newbie?" Old Rusty called, and the three turned. Ten Cents blushed as the tug looked his way, and he turned in the other direction.  
"Well, it was nice to meet you." Sally smiled. "I have to go and wait for my fuel though."  
"Ok, hope to see you around, bye!" The tug smiled, and OJ led her over to Lucky's Yard.  
"And this is the workshop. This is Old Rusty, he is going to be our tram steamer." OJ said.  
"Nice to meet you, I haven't seen a female tug in years." Old Rusty smiled, and the tug smiled.  
"And this is Pearl, she mainly works out in the estuaries, but she does work for us as well."  
"Hello." Pearl said, a bit happier now.  
"And this is Ten Cents, one of our switchers." The tug looked at Ten Cents, and he blushed even harder. He tried to speak, but couldn't say anything.  
"Hey, my name is Archer. I work for the Fruit and Vegetable Corporation." Archer said, smiling widely. Old Rusty continued to ask more questions, but Ten Cents began to feel uncomfortable, and he quickly slid off. Archer's eyes followed him, and she smirked.  
"I told you he would." OJ whispered, as Ten Cents sped off.  
"Don't worry, I always like a challenge."

Several hours later, Ten Cents and Sunshine were moving Up River. The sky above them was nearly black, as the clouds growled and rumbled, threatening to flood Bigg City. Zip and Zug were in front of them, talking in low whispers and casting looks behind them. Puffa raced past, his trucks covered in water.  
"Poor fellow, it must already be pouring up there." Sunshine said, sighing sadly. He looked at Ten Cents, who was deep in thought. Sunshine rolled his eyes, and then whistled loudly, causing Ten Cents to jump.  
"Was that necessary?" He snapped.  
"You are completely out of it!" Sunshine snapped. "What are you even thinking about?" Ten Cents gulped, and looked away, and Sunshine laughed. "Let me guess, your thinking about that Archer girl, aren't you?"  
"What's it to you?" Ten Cents grunted. "I've heard you muttering Sally's name in your sleep." Sunshine stopped laughing, causing Ten Cents to smirk excitedly in triumph.  
"Fine, I can't really judge you then, but you haven't even spoken to her, I think you should put the brakes on a bit and wait and see." Ten Cents was about to reply, but Zip and Zug had turned.  
"So, does little Ten Cents have a crush on the new girl in town?" Zip said, and Zug sniggered stupidly. Ten Cents growled, and tried to push past, but Zip blocked his way.  
"Buzz off!" Ten Cents snapped, and slammed into Zip's stern, pushing him aside. Sunshine slid through, but the two Z's followed them.  
"You don't stand a chance, either of you!" Zip yelled.  
"Do you seriously think she'd rather go for you?" Ten Cents replied. "I don't think she'd want to date you, your ugly face makes seagulls throw up." Sunshine began to laugh loudly, and Zip stopped, growling.  
"That wasn't nice of him." Zug said, looking shocked. Zip was going to snap, but he couldn't be bothered, and followed on after the two Stars, who were both laughing loudly.  
"Don't worry, I know how to get revenge."

The storm started far too suddenly.  
One second, OJ and Archer were heading back towards the warehouse, chatting and watching each other in perfect visibility. The next, the rain was blinding them, and the water became very violent.  
"Does the weather always act strange here?" Archer bellowed, as the wind howled loudly, and a rumble of thunder sounded overhead.  
"Yes, but trust me, there are stranger things in this town." OJ replied, nearly screaming. A flash of lightning illuminated their path, and OJ swerved and nudged Archer, pushing her out of the path of a speedboat. Archer smiled, and they continued to move towards the warehouse.  
Big Mac, Warrior, Izzy and Admiral were all still there. Big Mac and Warrior were trying to keep Admiral upright, as his moorings had come loose and he was being blasted by the wind.  
"Hold on!" Warrior yelled, as OJ and Archer appeared. Archer rushed over, and quickly attached new ropes as OJ helped the brothers out.  
"Pretty nasty welcome weather wise, eh?" Admiral joked.  
"We've had worse." Big Mac grunted.  
"Last year a cruise ship nearly overturned due to a storm." Warrior said.  
"It definitely seems to be tougher down in Bigg City." Archer said. There was another flash of lightning, followed moments later by loud thunder, which made Izzy jump.  
"Aye aye aye, I do not like this." The Mexican grumbled.  
"Think about poor Ten Cents and Sunshine, they must be getting soaked." OJ said.  
"How come?" Warrior asked.  
"Oh, I forgot they were doing a contract." Big Mac said. Archer looked shocked, but quickly covered it up. She looked around, and made sure no one was looking, and then turned and sped off.  
"Archer, where are you going?" Izzy asked. Archer cursed, but continued on. The tugs all turned and saw her race away, but the rain quickly ate her up.  
"Where did she go?" Big Mac asked.  
"Knowing Archer," Admiral said, smirking. "She is off chasing her latest beau."

The weather was worse around the Up River mouth.  
The waves were higher than their decks. Ten Cents and Sunshine were huddled together, trying to avoid the swirling waves, which were threatening to bowl them over. There were three barges of scrap tied behind them, and the barges were swinging madly, unable to withstand the weather. Zip and Zug were racing through the waves, trying to get to safe ground they got knocked over. They had their barges tied between them, and their scrap didn't seem to be getting buffeted.  
"It would suck if we lost to them of all the Z's." Sunshine grunted, as the thunder roared at them.  
"Let's just focus on trying to get there." Ten Cents said. "Besides, I imagine Zip is still angry about my comments earlier, and distractions can lead to your downfall."  
"Over confidence is nearly as dangerous." Sunshine warned, and Ten Cents scoffed. They continued forwards, the sea and sky occasionally turning a vivid electric blue as lightning flashed brightly, accompanied by increasingly loud thunder.  
"Are we getting closer?" Sunshine asked, but the wind blew his question aside. Ten Cents was straining to listen to him, as the rain was now bashing his windows, and that, combined with the wind and thunder, was making any discussion impossible. And with the moon blocked out, there were only the brief light that lightning provided. Sunshine seemed to be a bit concerned about the weather, but Ten Cents was completely oblivious to the problems.  
"I think we should try and stick to the banks, so we can try and avoid the waves." Ten Cents boomed, as he began to edge there.  
"What if I don't want to go that way?" Sunshine snapped.  
"It is a sensible way to go." Ten Cents replied, and pulled Sunshine further that way. Zip and Zug looked over, and Zip made a bee line.  
"Why are we going this way?" Zug asked, confused.  
"I don't want them out of my sight." Zip growled. "Ten Cents is going to pay for his remarks." At this, Zug chuckled loudly and Zip banged the barges, loosening their barges. Sunshine looked around, and noticed the other switchers.  
"Their tailing us." He said.  
"Well, we'd better go faster than." Ten Cents said, and picked up speed. Sunshine rolled his eyes, and looked behind, and sure enough, the Z's were going faster, and were gaining on them. Sunshine looked back, just as a bolt of lightning flashed.  
"WATCH OUT!" Sunshine yelled, as he realised that someone was in front of them. Ten Cents looked, and he could make out a large purple hat.  
"Archer!" Ten Cents gasped, and quickly pushed them out of the way. Zip and Zug cried out, and tried to move, but the barge tied directly to Zug came loose, and he began to move out of the way.  
"Watch were you are going!" Zip screeched, as several pieces of scrap fell out of both of their barges.  
"What is going on here?" Archer asked, and began to slow down.  
Then it happened.  
There was another bolt of lightning. The combined amount of metal seemed to be attracting the lightning, but there was something more powerful next to them.  
A ten metre high tree right on the edge of the bank.  
The lightning struck it, and there was a large amount of sparks. Archer, Zip and Zug screamed, as the tree burst into flames, and then gave an unfortunate cracking sound.  
"Timber!" Sunshine yelled, and he tried to move one way.  
But Ten Cents stared: Archer was frozen, unable to move. She was staring at the tree, as it slowly began to come towards them. Without thinking straight, Ten Cents charged forwards, while Sunshine went in the opposite direction. The ropes began to become very tight, and neither tug could move. Zip was staring at this, as Zug approached him.  
"We need to leave, I don't want to be here!" Zug whimpered.  
"Don't worry, I think I know a way." Zip grinned. He stared pointedly, and Zug looked over towards the Stars. Ten Cents and Sunshine were still in a tug-of-war, even as the tree began to reach closer to the ground. Zip charged forwards, and he struck a rope. It instantly snapped, and Sunshine and one barges sped off in one direction, while Ten Cents and the other two went in the other direction. As Zip went through with his barges, they whacked into the Stars barges on both sides, and more scrap fell off. Zug smiled, and he charged past, as Sunshine sped off in the other direction. Ten Cents slammed into Archer, as she let out a loud scream as the tree fell forwards, and narrowly missed them. It smashed onto Ten Cents two barges, and snapping them in halve. Metal fell into the water, and Ten Cents looked up at Archer.  
"Well, you sure know how to treat a lady." She giggled, and Ten Cents laughed a bit as well. Sunshine looked over, as lightning flashed, showing the sinking tree and barges, and Ten Cents perfectly oblivious to it. Sunshine sighed and shook his head, and then set off for the scrapyard.

The rain began to die down several minutes later, and Ten Cents and Archer were able to see clearly as they moved through the rough waters. The lightning flashed less frequently, and the thunder was no longer quite as loud.  
"I am sorry you lost all of your barges because of me." Archer said, as they headed towards the Fruit and Vegetable warehouses.  
"It is alright, I am sure Sunshine was able to drop off a considerable amount." Ten Cents said, trying to smile. But he had briefly seen Zug taking a full barge of scrap before the tree had fallen, and was feeling very doubtful about the whole situation.  
"Well, I hope you guys do get the contract." Archer smiled. "I felt a bit guilty when your friends came by for work and I had to turn them down."  
"It is alright, Big Mac was probably happy he didn't have to work for 'traitors'." Ten Cents chuckled. "By the way, how exactly do you know OJ?" At this, Archer smiled brightly, and struggled to hold back a chuckle.  
"Oh, that is a long story, and I don't think that this is the right time to tell it." She said. Ten Cents was going to pursue, but decided against it. As the two rounded an old warehouse, they narrowly avoided hitting another tug.  
"Oh, hello there darlings." Hercules smiled, peering over his fogged up glasses. "The rain always causes these to get condensation." He looked over at Archer, who was looking very intrigued.  
"I am Archer, for the Fruit and Vegetable Corp, and you must be Hercules."  
"Got it in one darling." Hercules smiled. Archer looked at Ten Cents, who was looking a bit jealous.  
"I should head back now, and leave you two to catch up." She smiled.  
"Oh, ok, that's fine." Ten Cents said, but he felt a bit crushed.  
"See you around then." Archer grinned, and she turned and chugged away. As she went past a dock, Hercules started to laugh.  
"What is it?" Ten Cents scowled.  
"It is obvious you are both smitten." Hercules said, as he slowly moved away. "And I think that one is playing hard to get."  
"Really?" Ten Cents said, shocked.  
"Trust me darling, I know woman, and you don't need my years of experience to know when two tugs are in love." And with that, Hercules moved off, chuckling more loudly, as Ten Cents remained stunned, and let the last of the rain wash over him as the early morning sun began to poke through the clouds.


	14. Victorious

Ten Cents had expected a frosty reception when he got back to Star Dock, but when he finally chugged in shortly after Hercules, he was surprised to find a large debate going on.  
On one side, OJ, Top Hatt, Warrior and Grampus were bellowing, while Sunshine and Big Mac were on the other, shouting just as loudly. Captain Starr was booming into the megaphone, and Hercules was blowing his hooter to restore calm.  
"What is going on here?" Ten Cents cried. Silence fell at once, and every one turned towards him.  
"Ah, Ten Cents, good to see you." Captain Starr said, though he didn't sound too pleased.  
"What is going on?' The switcher repeated, moving forwards.  
"Sunshine has just informed us about the contract." Big Mac said icily. Ten Cents looked into the harbour tugs eyes, but the anger made him uncomfortable and guilty, so he turned towards the others.  
"I thought that it wasn't too bad that we lost." OJ said, smiling warmly. "The money is always good, but do we really want to work with Burke and Blair?"  
"But then Sunshine thought that it was your fault we lost." Top Hatt said.  
"It was!" Sunshine snapped. Ten Cents looked at him, looking shocked and saddened, and wasn't surprised that Sunshine turned the other way.  
"How was it my fault?" Ten Cents said, his voice cracking at this betrayal.  
"Because you wanted to save that Vege Co cow!" Big Mac hissed.  
"There is no need for insults!" Captain Starr yelled, and Big Mac fell silent, but looked ashamed. "Now Ten Cents, I personally do not blame you for this unfortunate loss. There are several other contracts available over the next few weeks, so I think we should put our feuding aside and work together to get them. Hercules, will you make sure of this?"  
"Of course." Hercules said proudly.  
"Good show. Old Rusty is going to be completed soon, and there is a cruise ship, Venice, arriving next week. So I want you all to promise to work together!"  
"Yes Captain." They all chorused. However, Big Mac and Sunshine sulked off into a corner, leaving the others to mutter about their behaviour.  
"Don't worry Ten Cents, Sunshine will come around." Grampus said, smiling encouragingly.  
"Thanks." Ten Cents replied. He drifted away from everyone, desperate to sleep. But there was a booming cheer from the Zero Dock, and his face fell. Despite what OJ and Grampus said, there was no covering it up.  
He had failed.

***

For the first time in many years, the Z-Stacks had a reason to celebrate.  
"I hold in my hands the scrap yard contract!" Captain Zero said, and the tugs let out the cheer that Ten Cents had heard. "We are now one step closer to over taking those wretched Stars!"  
"Hooray!" Zak croaked, and the others nodded.  
"So, shall we plot our next plan of attack?" Zorran sniggered deviously. The others chuckled as well, but Captain Zero shushed them.  
"Keep your voices down!" He snapped. "I don't want the Merry Cheery Brigade over there hearing us."  
"Sorry." Zorran whispered. "But I want to start getting more contracts!"  
"We can't get contracts if there aren't any contracts." Zebedee said grouchily. Zorran growled at him.  
"He does have a fair point." Zak said. "I mean, are there any contracts coming up?" He called to Captain Zero. The Captain pondered for a moment, but then let out an exclamation of delight.  
"I have an idea… I'll get back to you on it, but tonight, we celebrate!"  
"Here here!" Zip and Zug cried, and the others nodded. And for the next few hours, the fleet celebrated as much as they could, as a triumph like this didn't come around that often.

January 23rd 1924

The hopes that the Stars would be able to get their winning streak back were quickly squashed. Only one day after their initial win and Zorran was boasting about a small contract with a tram steamer company.  
"Captain Zero is very pleased we secured this, it is well paid." Ten Cents overheard the lead Z saying to Puffa. The switcher was thoroughly annoyed, and he nearly drove Little Ditcher into the edge of a dock.  
However, his angry was subsided when he was instructed to pick up Old Rusty.  
The tram steamer was waiting proudly outside of Lucky's Yard. His new blue-grey coat was sparkling, and steam was slowly issuing out of his stack.  
"Excuse me." Ten Cents said as he approached.  
"Yes?" Old Rusty said, his eyebrows raised.  
"I am looking for a tram steamer called Old Rusty." The switcher continued, a cheeky smile creeping onto his face. "He is quite old, completely covered in rust and seagull droppings, really grumpy." Old Rusty let out a booming laugh that caused several nearby barges to cry out.  
"Ah Ten Cents, I feel young again." He said, and he stared around at the glittering ocean.  
"You look very young." Ten Cents said. "Thinking of changing your name?"  
"I couldn't do that, I have become quite accustomed to it." Old Rusty smiled. "Besides, haven't you seen the cream?" And he turned slightly, showing his name, writing in cream on his bow.  
"Very stylish." Ten Cents said, grinning. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He attached a rope, and began to tow him out. But there was a whirring from above, and Ten Cents quickly stopped as Sally came down to land. She landed, causing a large wave to splosh onto Ten Cents.  
"Sorry there!" Sally said, laughing softly, coming to a halt. She looked at Old Rusty and smiled. "Congratulations, you're finally out!"  
"I know, it is fantastic!" Old Rusty said cheerfully.  
"It is a good thing you're finished, now that tram steamer contract won't seem too bad." Sally added, smiling nervously.  
"What contract?" Old Rusty asked. Ten Cents sighed and quickly explained the Z's wins. When he finished, Old Rusty was looking horror stuck, and Sally had a awkward expression.  
"Don't worry about it, they are only small contracts." Ten Cents said, trying to sound reassuring, but Sally just looked more worried.  
"Zip and Zug were around here yesterday, trying to get work." She said.  
"What!" Ten Cents cried. "They can't try and take our jobs!"  
"Well, if you guys don't try and stop them, I think they will." Sally said sadly. "I have to go and refuel, see you all later."  
"Bye." Ten Cents and Old Rusty said miserably, and Sally skidded away across the water.  
"I think we should go and see the others, see if they have been bothered as well." Old Rusty suggested.  
"Good idea." Ten Cents said. And together they headed off, the happiness of Old Rusty's completion slowly being sapped away.

Sunshine was happy to be out and about, letting the cool breeze blow away his problems. He had Pearl and Little Ditcher on either side of him, and was looking forward to go out into the estuary, collecting more oysters. It was always a fun time, as he bonded so well with Little Ditcher and Pearl, and they always had a good time, occasionally chatting to other ships coming into port.  
"When is that new cruise liner showing up?" Pearl asked.  
"I think it is coming in tomorrow." Sunshine replied.  
"Here's hoping it doesn't nearly capsize this time." Little Ditcher sniggered, and the other two chortled as well. The trio continued to chat as they left the buildings behind and passed the naval reserve. Sunshine was pleased that neither of them brought up the contract issue, and was able to enjoy the journey.  
But all that changed when there had a loud whistle.  
"Now who is making all that noise?" Little Ditcher said angrily, turning.  
"I think I know who." Sunshine growled, coming to a stop as another hooter sounded.  
"Hello there Sunshine." Zug said, smiling stupidly. Zip was alongside, and being towed behind them was Scuttlebutt Pete.  
"Why are you with them?" Little Ditcher gasped.  
"Captain Zero brought the contract last night." Scuttlebutt said, his voice having lost its usual cheery nature.  
"Poor thing." Pearl muttered, and Sunshine sniggered and the two Z's growled.  
"At least we've got a new contract!" Zip sneered, and Sunshine stopped laughing.  
"That was just a fluke." The switcher replied, and quickly continued on his way.

"What about all our other ones?" Zug jeered, as he followed up.  
"You brought all of those!" Sunshine snapped.  
"But we still earned them!" Zip said. Sunshine rolled his eyes and continued onwards.  
"Just accept Sunshine." Zug yelled. "We are the most supre-"  
"What's going on over there?" Pearl gasped. Sunshine and Zug looked forwards. Lillie was flashing her light.  
"Why is here light on in the middle of the day?" Zip asked.  
"I'll check this out." Sunshine said, and he hurried forwards. Zug made to follow, but Scuttlebutt refused.  
"We've got a job to do!" He said, and Zug roared angrily.  
Lillie was looking very worried as Sunshine approached. She looked over at the sound of the sloshing waves, and smiled weakly.  
"Thank goodness you're here!" She cried.  
"What's happened?" Sunshine asked anxiously. "Has there been an accident?"  
"No, no. But there will be trouble if you don't hurry!" Lillie said, turning her light off.  
"Why?" Sunshine asked, puzzled. Lillie sighed and looked out to sea. Sunshine followed her gaze, and his jaw dropped. A magnificent, pearly white cruise ship, with deep red lining, was moving gracefully towards them. Pale smoke was emitting out of her four long stacks that were white and red, and the sun was struck the ships name, illuminating the gold.  
Venice.  
She had arrived one day too early.

Sunshine raced back through the docks and ports, Little Ditcher and Pearl's cries of protests being drowned by the sloshing waves and yells from passing boats. The switcher was desperately looking for Hercules, OJ, Big Mac, any Star tug… except for Ten Cents, of course. Like he would be any help anyway, Sunshine thought spitefully. Would probably leave as soon as he saw that little…  
"Sunshine, will you slow down?" Little Ditcher groaned, trying to hit the switcher with his crane arm. Sunshine drifted back out of his thoughts, and then he began to slow down. Pearl collided with his bow, and she let out a soft moan.  
"Thank you." She huffed.  
"Yeah, sorry, I'll go a bit slower." Sunshine apologised, and he started off again. The water was a bit choppy and pushed Sunshine towards the buildings, but he continued onwards. He heard a loud whistle and his face lit up.  
"That is Chuffa II!" Sunshine exclaimed, and picked up his speed. "Top Hatt could be there!"  
"As long as we stop moving." Little Ditcher said, and Pearl agreed. Sunshine ignored them and turned around the corner, reaching the large area of the harbour where boats came to collect goods from trains. And sure enough, Top Hatt, Frank and Eddie were by one of the docks, Chuffa II simmering alongside as his trucks were unloaded.  
"TOP HATT!" Sunshine yelled, speeding over. Top Hatt nearly leapt out of the water in fright, and Frank and Eddie giggled.  
"What is it Sunshine?" Top Hatt grumbled.  
"It's Venice, she has already arrived!" Sunshine cried. Top Hatt gasped loudly, and his monocle nearly fell out.  
"Looks like you lot are in a tight situation." Frank said.  
"I don't think Top Hatt will be much help, will probably just gasp a lot." Eddie said, and they sniggered until Top Hatt bumped them.  
"Well, we must find Hercules and the others before the Z's hear about this." Top Hatt said. "Chuffa, will you alert any Stars you find?"  
"I'll do my best, but I'll have to wait until I've finished." The steam engine said.  
"I'll look around, I am sure we can get there first. Zip and Zug are out there, but Lillie will hold them off if she can." Sunshine said. Top Hatt nodded, and Sunshine quickly headed off. As he passed a narrow alleyway, neither he nor Little Ditcher or Pearl noticed Zorran in there, listening in and smiling deviously.

Within ten minutes, Top Hatt had collected the loads he needed, allowing both him and Chuffa II to race away in search of others. Sunshine was searching around as well, and together the three looked in the most obvious places: the Star Dock, Lucky's Yard, the Garbage yard, as many docks as they could, but no one was in sight. Sunshine saw Top Hatt after nearly half an hour of searching and went over.  
"I am exhausted, I am going to have to let the current move me." Sunshine puffed. Top Hatt raised his wheelhouse and looked over towards the horizon.  
"Venice is getting closer, the Z's will have noticed her by now." He said, sounding nervous.  
"We need to keep looking!" Pearl said.  
"What about our trucks?" Eddie grumbled.  
"They are too heavy to carry all day!" Frank added.  
"Maybe it'll teach you two not to laugh at me!" Top Hatt growled, and the barges rolled their eyes.  
"You deliver those trucks, maybe try and get Puffa or Huffa in on it as well." Sunshine said. But then, as if the engines had heard him, there was a loud piercing whistle from nearby, and they could hear the thunder of a train speeding down the tracks. The two tugs exchanged looks and moved around a building corner. They saw Chuffa II blur past them, whistling frantically. Sunshine was about to ask what that was about, but Hercules and Warrior appeared in the distance, towing some coal barges.  
"OVER HERE!" Little Ditcher yelled, his megaphone projecting his voice. Hercules and Warrior rushed over, ignoring the coal falling out of their barges.  
"What is going on darlings, Chuffa just yelled at us to follow him." Hercules said.  
"It's Venice, she's shown up!" Sunshine exclaimed, a bit too loud, and ushered them out so they could get a clear view.  
"I can see her, over in the distance!" Warrior gasped. Hercules looked worried as well.  
"We need to get to her before the Z-Stacks." He said. Top Hatt was going to point out that was obvious, but Sunshine gave him a look. "Alright, here is what we'll do. Sunshine, you take my barge and deliver them. Top Hatt, you take Warrior's and deliver it with yours. We'll head out to meet her as we aren't that tired. Sunshine, you keep looking for the others, Top Hatt, you come out to meet us as soon as you have dropped the barges off, alright?"  
"Agreed." The other three tugs said. Hercules smiled, though his eyes showed his worry. They quickly exchanged barges, before turning and heading off to do their jobs

***

Ten Cents and Old Rusty had been looking for the other Stars for most of the morning, and Old Rusty was becoming exceptionally glum.  
"Maybe no one wants to see me." He said.  
"Don't say something like that!" Ten Cents said, gasping. "We all want you on our team, so cut that talk out!" Old Rusty smiled weakly, but his joy had entirely disappeared. As they moved between some rotting warehouses, hoping that someone might be out here, they heard the slosh of waves.  
"I bet that is Grampus." Ten Cents said, and he turned off to follow the noise. But as he came out into a new waterway, he was surprised to see Zorran and Zebedee moving up ahead, the latter towing a barge of scrap.  
"I can't abandon this job, we only just got the contract!" Zebedee was saying.  
"You have to if we want to get the better one!" Zorran shouted back. "We haven't gotten a cruise ship contract for so long I have forgotten how many years its been!"  
"I think its been fo-"  
"That was a question!" Zorran snapped. "Now leave your scrap here and get your sorry rudder out to that estuary before I send you down to Davy Jones locker!" Zebedee nodded, and Zorran smiled wickedly. "Good boy, now move! Zak is already on his way, and Zip and Zug are in prime position to help." Zorran was about to leave, but froze. "Actually, bring the barge with you, it might come in handy with my new plan." Ten Cents let out a silent gasp and reversed backwards.  
"What does this mean?" Old Rusty whispered.  
"It means Venice has come early, and the Z-Stacks are going to get that contract by any means necessary." Ten Cents replied gravely. "Unless we can stop them."

Venice was very grumpy at the moment. She hadn't been allowed to stop at the previous town due to bad weather, and have now been moving non stop for nearly a week and was almost out of coal. And no one had come to tow her in yet.  
"Is anyone there?" She called in her thick Italian accent.  
"Yes." Another female voice replied. Venice looked down and saw a lightship resting by some rocks.  
"Oh, _buon giorno_." Venice called. "I am looking for an, er, tugboat, I need to be towed in."  
"A switcher is currently looking for the rest of his team." Lillie replied. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow, sorry about this." Venice let out a little laugh.  
"That is understandable." She said. "But I'd expect better treatment next time I come." Lillie nodded, though thought to herself how snobbish this ship seemed. She looked behind and saw that Scuttlebutt was keeping Zip and Zug well away from the ship, which was a very good thing. But there was still no sight of Sunshine, Hercules, any Star Tug member. With a depressed sigh, Lillie looked back at Venice, who was edging alarmingly close.  
"Is there any chance you could slow down?" Lillie called, looking frequently behind her. Venice let out an indignant huff.  
"I most certainly will not slow down!" She fumed. "I have a job to do, and it is not my fault if these Bigg City tugs are not up to scratch!"  
"Our tugs are very capable, thank you very much!" Lillie growled. "And let me tell you," But there was the sound of a hooter in the distance, and Lillie halted her rant and looked. Hercules and Warrior were racing towards them, smoke billowing high into the sky.  
"I guess these tugs are here for me?" Venice asked.  
"Thankfully." Lillie muttered, as Hercules and Warrior drew closer. Zip and Zug shot them ugly looks as they passed.  
"So sorry Venice darling." Hercules said, putting on his smoothest voice, but it couldn't keep up his panting. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow."  
"As I have been told." Venice replied in a cold voice. "Now would you please tow me in, I am very low on coal."  
"Of course darling." Hercules said. He mouthed his apologises to Lillie, and he and Warrior quickly turned to tie themselves to the cruise ship, and within minutes, Venice was finally being towed. However, she was very heavy, and seemed to want to rest now that she was getting towed.  
"I already hurt." Warrior huffed.  
"Don't worry, the others will be here soon enough." Hercules replied, as the rope strained behind him. "I can even see someone coming in the distance." And sure enough, another tugboat was moving out of the city.  
"It looks like a black tugboat, is it still one of yours?" Venice asked. Hercules and Warrior exchanged looks, but Zip and Zug heard this message and beamed.  
"Looks like we might get this contract after all." Zug muttered to Zip, who laughed dopily. As Hercules, Warrior and Venice moved forwards, Zak moved closer into view.  
"Hello there." He croaked. "Do you need a hand?"  
"We are fine!" Warrior replied, though he was going red in the face. Zak smirked, and turned so that he could follow them.  
"If you are fine then, I'll head back into port." He replied.  
"Well at least this shows something." Hercules growled.  
"Which is?" Zak asked in a drawling tone.  
"We are going slowly because we are towing a cruise ship, yet your going slower than us and you have no weight." Hercules said, managing smirk. "You Z's must be very unfit than." Zak stopped dead in his tracks as if he had hit an invisible wall. Laughing at his failed plan, Hercules and Warrior regained some of their strength, and they surged forwards.

OJ had been given the job of taking Lord Stinker while Warrior was busy, and was thoroughly not enjoying this task.  
"You look very upset." Lord Stinker said, as they headed towards their last pickup.  
"Oh, I am fine, fine." OJ replied quickly, just as a gust of wind blew some soggy newspapers onto his hat. Lord Stinker chuckled, and OJ blew his hooter, sending the paper flying. He glared down at the barge as he began to turn left, heading towards a small port where a load of garbage was waiting. But before they could stop, there was a loud whistle and Sunshine raced around a corner, looking around frantically. His eyes finally caught OJ's and a smile of relief went over his face.  
"OJ, we need help, urgently!" Sunshine bellowed.  
"What's wrong?" OJ asked, looking worried.  
"Venice has arrived a day early; we need you out there to get her in!" Sunshine said.  
"Don't worry about me OJ, you lot need to get out there!" Lord Stinker said.  
"Of course, we can't waste any more time." OJ said, quickly untying himself. "Do you know if they have managed to get her past Lillie?"  
"I think so, but- AARGH!" Sunshine cried. They have barely moved away from Lord Stinker when a large barge, full of scrap, slammed into them. The two tugs were forced up against the dock, and the force of the slam caused the garbage to fall down onto them. Spluttering and sore, the two tried to look around, but all they see was black. There was a slosh of waves and a familiar triumphant laugh.  
"Oh joy, Zorran." OJ snarled, as a banana peel landed onto his deck.  
"What are we going to do know?" Sunshine groaned.

"I'll call for help!" Lord Stinker said. "HELP, HELP!"  
"That won't do anything!" OJ snapped. But suddenly two loud whistles sounded. The paddle tug turned towards Sunshine, who wasn't as happy at this new noise. But he let out a sigh as the whistle got louder, and something approached them…

In the past ten minutes, Hercules and Warrior had barely moved a kilometre. Zak, Zip and Zug were moving slowly behind, whispering jeering comments.  
"I can't take this much longer." Warrior muttered.  
"Hang in there darling, we only need two more of our fellows to come and help us." Hercules replied, but he too was feeling very stressed.  
"Ready to give up?" Zak asked, smiling widely.  
"Never." Hercules growled.  
"If you insist, but you are looking very tired." Zug added, and the Z's sneered. But their jeering was halted by a loud whistle.  
"Ahoy there!" Top Hatt called, as he sped through the water, sending waves crashing into a breakwater. "Sorry about the delay, there was a delay with getting Frank and Eddie in the right spot." He said, rolling his eyes.  
"At least you are here." Hercules said. Top Hatt gave the Z's a nasty look, but than turned around and backed onto Venice's port, and a rope was dropped down.  
"Are we going to pick up the speed now?" Venice called, sounding highly impatient.  
"Hopefully." Hercules yelled.  
"Secured." Top Hatt yelled, and they headed off again. But despite the combine strength of all three of them, Venice was the largest cruise ship they had ever towed, and after a five minute quick run, they began to slack soon after.  
"You could have mentioned how heavy she was." Top Hatt muttered.  
"Where is Sunshine?" Warrior asked.

"I think he went to find the others." Top Hatt replied.  
"I can see smoke in the distance, is it one of yours?" Venice asked. All six tugs looked around hopefully, and sure enough, there was smoke in the sky, and two tugs moving underneath…  
"Hello there!" Zorran yelled out, smiling widely, as Zebedee moved behind, looking a bit sullen.  
"Oh good, a full house." Zak said, and he rushed forwards, with Zip, Zug and Scuttlebutt Pete coming up behind. The Z's formed a line, blocking the way of the Stars and the cruise ship.  
"What is the meaning of this?" Top Hatt fumed.  
"It is just that there are five of us, and only three of you." Zorran said. He was in the middle and had obviously, as always, taken up the leadership role. "It would be only fair of us to take the strain off you."  
"We are going fine." Hercules said.  
"Oh please, you have been red in the face for ages!" Zak scoffed.  
"You look like smoking tomatoes!" Zip chuckled, and the others laughed at this, and even Zebedee managed a smile.  
"We have done all the work; you guys can wait until you've properly earned one!" Top Hatt said.  
"Yeah, so leave us alone!" Warrior grunted. Zorran rolled his eyes, and edged closer forwards.  
"I have tried to be reasonable, but you Stars have gone and said all the wrong things!" He said, tutting slightly. "If you won't give Venice to us, we'll take her from you."  
"Now wait just one second!" Venice boomed, but Zorran, Zak and Zug were already advancing.  
"What childish behaviour!" Scuttlebutt cried, and he shook violently, stopping Zug from moving. Zorran and Zak ignored him, and they went to charge. Suddenly, there was a gurgle from beneath them, and figure rose out in front of Zorran, spraying him with water.  
"GRAMPUS!" Hercules, Top Hatt and Warrior boomed. Zorran fumed, but then he went back into his smirk.  
"No matter, we still outnumber you." He said.  
"I think you should turn around." Grampus said, having his own little smirk. Zorran and Zak exchanged a look, and then slowly turned around.  
Moving slowly towards them were the rest of Star Tugs.  
At the front were Ten Cents and Old Rusty, who had built up enough strength to move on his own. Only a little bit behind them came Sunshine, OJ and Big Mac, who all seemed to have put any feuds behind them in order to bring down the Z's. And then, right at the back, came the Coastguard.  
"Oh bugger." Zorran hissed. Ten Cents came to a halt, implying to the others to do the same.  
"Sorry boys, but you are outnumbered nine to five." Ten Cents said. Zorran's eyes were bulged out so far in shock that his hat looked like it would come off. The Coastguard swerved around the Stars and approached the harbour tug.  
"I am going to have to ask you lot of leave." He said, smiling in his pleasure of bringing down this team. "The Stars can easily bring Venice in, I recommend you leave." Zorran was about to say something, but with Stars on either side of them, he had no ammunition left.  
"Fine, let's go." He snarled, and headed away as quickly as possible. Zak shot another nasty glance at the Stars before leaving. Zebedee left without a word, and Zip and Zug followed after, with a very happy looking Scuttlebutt.  
"Thank you so much darlings" Hercules said. "I can't-" he began, but Venice cut in.  
"Excuse me, but are we going to be leaving soon?" She said icily.  
"Thank us later, let's get her into port." Big Mac boomed, and the whole team cheered as they spread out and began to final leg of the journey.

With the combined efforts of all involved, Venice eventually made it into dock after only twenty more minutes of suffering. The Stars all cheered as they towed her in, mainly as they were glad to be done with her. As they were all untied, Sunshine moved over towards Ten Cents.  
"Ten Cents, I'm really-"  
"Sorry?" Ten Cents asked, and Sunshine nodded. "Really, about what?" Sunshine looked a bit confused.  
"Sorry for our fight." He said.  
"What fight?" Ten Cents said, looking very puzzled. Sunshine was going to reply, but Ten Cents winked at him, and the little switcher realised what was happening.  
"Oh yeah, there was no fight." He said, nodding. The two friends looked at each other and laughed. The others were moving away, talking to Old Rusty mainly. Ten Cents and Sunshine followed, quickly catching up about their past weeks actions. As they moved, they noticed Scuttlebutt sitting by a dock, having been roughly docked.  
"Why are you here?" Ten Cents asked.  
"Well, the word on the street is that the Z's have lost their contract." Scuttlebutt whispered.  
"Of course you'd know, you are the contract!" Sunshine laughed.  
"Come on, I suppose we should move you." Ten Cents said, and Sunshine went on either side and hooked up.  
"Thanks for this." Scuttlebutt said. "Oh, by the way, you know Burke and Blair?" Ten Cents and Sunshine exchanged looks and laughed, completely ignoring Scuttlebutt's latest load of gossip. The two switchers were just pleased to be friends again.  
Behind them, hiding behind the corner of a building, someone was watching them move. Someone was waiting, finding the right time to come out, to reveal himself back to this harbour city.  
Johnny Cuba was out, and he was looking for revenge.


	15. Revenge: Villians

January 22nd 1924

It was night time in Bigg City, and darkness surrounded the ships and boats on all sides. The only lights were tiny pinpricks out of building windows, and the occasional light from a passing boat or steam engine. Lillie Lightship, as usual, had the brightest light, and was keeping her usual watch by Dender Rocks. But she was very tired, and was struggling to keep awake. Slowly, Lillie's eyelids began to close, and she stopped fighting them, and drifted off to sleep.  
"She's asleep, go!" Burke and Blair quickly rushed out of their hiding spot behind several rocks.  
"Do you think we'll catch any tonight?" Burke said.  
"I doubt it." Blair replied. "The weather has become less stormy, there have been fewer incidents." Burke nodded at this, and the two sighed before moving slowly out towards sea. Both of them were in need for money and more scrap, but there had not been as many accidents, at least none they had heard about. They hoped that, be watching ships coming into port, they could catch them if they crashed, and take them back and scrap them. Unfortunately for them, there had been very few accidents, and the Stars usually intervened before they could get them.  
"Are any boats actually coming in tonight?" Burke asked.  
"I am not sure." Blair answered, and the two stared out towards sea. Clouds parted overhead, and the moon provided them with more light. The two sat in silence, growing steadily impatient. Suddenly, Lillie's light reflected off the hull of a tramp steamer, sidling into port.  
"I see something!" Blair said, and the two moved forwards slightly. The light caught it again, and the two could now make out several silhouettes.  
"We should act!" Burke whispered.  
"What do you mean act?"  
"There are three boats coming right by us, and there isn't a slight chance they'll have an accident. But if we cause one, we'll get the money we need!" Blair thought for a moment, and then nodded. Moving swiftly and silently, they charged out from the rocks. The tramp steamer came to a halt, and other two stopped as well.  
"What do you want?" The tramp steamer asked with a thick Australian accent. Burke and Blair were stunned by this, but Lillie's light caught his face, revealing an eye patch and a very grumpy expression.  
"Johnny Cuba!" Burke gasped.  
"Right on the money." The Australian replied, and Burke and Blair quickly moved backwards. Lillie's light showed that Sea Rogue was nervously on one side, and a shrimper was proudly on the other.  
"So, I'll repeat myself, what do you two want?" Johnny Cuba insisted.  
"We were, um, looking for some scrap. We are the scrap dealers, you see." Blair spluttered. Johnny smiled at this, and exchanged a look with a shrimper.  
"Interesting, very interesting." He said, and Blair gulped. "Come with me, I may need your assistance."  
"But we need to stay here!" Burke said. Johnny Cuba moved forwards so that his body separated the two, and stared down at Burke.  
"Either you come with me, or I'll smash you." This time, Burke was the one who gulped, and Johnny smiled and moved forwards. The shrimper moved past, looking equally as smug, and Sea Rogue followed after. Burke and Blair exchanged looks, and silently agreed to go ahead with the plan. They followed after, and left behind no trace of them being there. But the sea was disturbed, and the waves jolted Lillie.  
"Whose there?" She said, but got no reply. With a shrug and a sigh, the lightship went back to sleep.

January 27th 1924

Bigg City was in a very tense mood. The navy was going to be testing a variety of new explosives at an abandoned dock late in the afternoon, and everyone was talking about it. Last time they had done an operation like this, Big Mickey had been killed. But, as Bluenose kept telling everyone, the navy had to get past that mishap and keep up the good work.  
"Of course he'd cover it up, he's the one that caused the blaze!" Big Mac scoffed when he heard.  
"It is Bluenose, what do you expect?" OJ replied, and the Stars all nodded in agreement, but still enjoyed debating the issue.  
On the day of the test, the Stars were all awake nice and early. Old Rusty was the only one not worried. He and Hercules would be delivering supplies to the site to help secure it.  
"I haven't been part of a naval operation in years!" Old Rusty said, and he looked years younger as he began to reminisce. "I remember this one time off the coast of London…"  
"Old Rusty, we are all interested in hearing another one of your tales, but now is not the time." Captain Starr said. "Today is a very important day, and I require all of you to be on your best behaviour. Here are your assigned jobs. Big Mac, you need to help Billy in with the munitions. Warrior, you are to go and wait with the Fire Tug. Top Hatt and OJ, you will receive some jobs from the steam engines. Make sure they run on time, the lines go past the testing site. Ten Cents and Grampus, there are some supplies that you must collect from Lucky's Yard. Sunshine, I need you to collect some barges from the Fruit and Vegetable Dock, Archer borrowed them the other day. Old Rusty, wait until Hercules returns from seeing Venice off, and then you shall proceed with collecting the supplies." The Star Fleet all nodded, and then quickly bean to move off.  
"Be careful Big Mac, make sure that Billy doesn't do anything daft." Top Hatt warned.  
"I think even Billy knows how serious this is." Big Mac replied, and headed off towards Up River.  
"Come on Grampus, we better go and collect our supplies then." Ten Cents said.  
"Sure thing. Bye everyone!" Grampus called, and there were several replies.  
"I hope nothing does go wrong today." Ten Cents said.  
"What could possibly go wrong?" Grampus said. "They have put in place lots of security measures: the old dock is well out of harms way except for the railway, but OJ and Top Hatt will make sure they go on time and out of harms way."  
"That is all very reassuring, but you are forgetting one simple fact." Ten Cents replied, smirking slightly.  
"Which is?"  
"Bluenose is there." Grampus chuckled at this, and Ten Cent let the smile form.  
"Well, asides from him, who else could ruin today? The Z-Stacks are away on work, and I don't see Lord Lucky coming down and blindly smashing us all up." Ten Cents laughed at this.  
"I see your point, I am just overreacting." He said, and the two continued on towards Lucky's Yard.  
Behind them, lurking around the corner of a building, Sea Rogue watched as two of his Uncle's saviours moved through the murky waters. He knew what was happening today, and that Johnny Cuba's plan would destroy numerous lives and a lot of Bigg City, but he would not let any of his friends get hurt.  
"Oi, Eyepatch, we've got a job to do!" Sea Rogue rolled his good eye, gave one Ten Cents one last look of pity, and then turned around and headed back towards Gareth, thinking of what he would do to save his friends from disaster.

Sunshine was moving cheerily through the waters, trying not to think about the naval test. He was enjoying the bright sunny weather, and was glad that the horrible winter would soon be a distant memory. Sunshine paused to allow a small green ferry to chug past, and then carried onwards. The fruitful sign of the Fruit and Vegetable Corporation rose up in the distance, and Sunshine sounded his hooter. Archer and Admiral looked over and smiled, though it seemed they had just been deep in discussion.  
"Hello there." Sunshine said, smiling happily.  
"Hello." Archer said stiffly.  
"I am here to collect some barges we lent you." Sunshine said, getting suspicious.  
"Oh yes, thanks for that." Archer said, smiling. "They are over there." Sunshine nodded, and moved over towards them. As he tied himself to the four barges, he noticed that Admiral and Archer were having a whispered conversation. Slowly, Sunshine moved forwards, and was able to catch a part of it.

"I am not drawing attention to myself?" Admiral said.  
"We have to ask for help, he is too violent!" Archer protested. "The Stars are trustworthy enough."  
"What if they aren't? I am not going to start blabbing about Johnny Cuba!" Admiral hissed.  
"Johnny Cuba!?" Sunshine gasped, and Admiral and Archer turned.  
"It's rude to listen into others conversations." Admiral said grumpily.  
"Sorry, it is just that Johnny Cuba has been here before." Sunshine explained, a bit embarrassed about being caught. Archer gasped and reversed suddenly, hitting Admiral. He growled, but she ignored him.  
"He's been here before? What happened?" Sunshine quickly retold what he knew about Johnny Cuba's last visit to Bigg City.  
"But if he got captured, what is he doing floating around?" Admiral said.  
"You two saw him?" Sunshine said, his eyes wide with shock.  
"We saw him briefly yesterday." Archer said. "I was towing Admiral back in, and then we saw him talking to a shrimper."

"That might be Gareth." Sunshine muttered aloud. Archer and Admiral looked confused, but Sunshine ignored this. "We have to alert someone! Johnny Cuba will probably be looking for revenge, and with the naval test today, it wouldn't be a good time for him to do it."  
"What about my safety?" Admiral said huffily. "I don't want to get sunk either!"  
"You're the same size as him, you can fight him. We tugboats may be strong, but not if an angry tramp steamer charges at us!" Sunshine retorted. "How do you two know him anyway?" This time he caught the exchange of looks, but Archer recovered quickly.  
"That's not important now, we need to go and find someone. Come on!" Sunshine was surprised by this sudden abruptness, but quickly followed after Archer, who was racing ahead. Admiral watched them go, glaring at Sunshine slightly, before slinking back slightly into the shade, letting his mind wander.

At the very edge of the city limits, far away from the estuaries and Up River, was a collection of old docks. A thriving tugboat company, known as the Coastal Crusaders, had used to work here, and a number of businesses had opened up near them, hoping to benefit from having their services nearby. Unfortunately, a fire had destroyed the majority of the buildings, and the Coastal Crusaders had sunk with it. The businesses moved to other parts of the city, leaving their destroyed buildings behind.  
It was now the perfect hideout.  
Sea Rogue and Gareth moved slowly through the scorched docks, towing several barges they had stolen behind them. Lots of charred rubble lay around them, and the body of a steam engine was poking out of the shallow waters, orange and brown with rust.  
"I love this place." Gareth said, and then laughed at what he considered wit. Sea Rogue forced a smile, but he was still worried about what might happen to his friends. He knew that news of their escape would soon reach the city, and he didn't want his friends to think of him as a convict.  
"We're here." Gareth said, and Sea Rogue came back to reality. They were now next to an old warehouse. It was furthers point of Bigg City, and was one of the lest damaged buildings in the current area. Only one wall had been caught in the fire, but storms had damaged it, and with no one to fix it, the building had fallen into disarray. Most of the roof had caved in, and only one door was still on its hinges. Gareth and Sea Rogue ventured inside the cold, barely stable structure, and found Johnny Cuba waiting, with Burke and Blair cowering nearby.  
"Good, you two are back." Johnny said, smiling wickedly. "How many barges did you collect?"  
"Four each." Sea Rogue said. Johnny Cuba stared at them, and pondered wheter it was a good enough amount or not. Than he nodded in approval, turning back towards the scrap dealers.  
"I need some boats that are stupid enough to do what I want." The tramp steamer snarled.  
"H-h-how about some shrimpers?" Burke suggested.  
"Yes, th-they are pretty stu-" Blair began, but Gareth growled with rage, and he stopped. Johnny Cuba laughed at this interaction, and everyone's faces went back to neutral.  
"Very well, go and find me some shrimpers. But be quick!" Johnny said. "I need your help with more work later on."  
"Yes sir." Burke and Blair said together, and they turned and rushed past Sea Rogue, who pitied them, but couldn't let it show.  
"Now you two, this can't go to plan if we don't have our explosives." Johnny said, his accent thick with joy. Gareth's eyes lit up with happiness, and Johnny moved closer and began to give them their next instructions.

Ten Cents and Grampus were continuing with their work at Lucky's Yard, moving around empty and loaded barges. Grampus also had to have more flares put in, just in case there was ever an emergency.  
"I felt like we've moved all the barges in the city!" Ten Cents puffed, pushing a fuel barge into line.  
"Count yourself lucky, I did much worse work back in the navy." Grampus replied, as he closed the shutters over his flares. Above them, there was a whirring sound, and the two wisely moved out of the way, giving Sally a clear space to land. Ten Cents went to say 'Hello', but Sally turned around, looking very worried.  
"What is it?" Grampus asked, equally concerned.  
"I am not certain, but I think I saw Sea Rogue." Sally explained. Ten Cents and Grampus gasped, exchanging looks of shock.  
"Are you sure?" Ten Cents asked.  
"As I said, I'm not certain. But it looked like him. There was this shrimper with him as well." Sally added, and Ten Cents was curious.  
"What sort of shrimper, did you see a colour?"  
"Green, like those ones that attacked Warrior and Big Mac." Sally said, and the switcher and submarine both looked even more worried. Suddenly, two hooters sounded, and they turned as Archer and Sunshine sped over, both looking as worried as the three in front of them.  
"Ten Cents, Johnny Cuba is back, and may have some accomplices!" Sunshine said, panting slightly. Grampus was so shocked he accidentally set off a flare, which exploded in fire above their caps.  
"We know that Sea Rogue and Gareth are back in town, but Johnny Cuba!" Ten Cents said, his voice cracking slightly. "This is really bad news, especially for the Z's."  
"Forget about them, what if they attack us, or Archer and Admiral!" Sunshine exclaimed. Archer shot him an angry look, but the others were too frightened to care.  
"I think the Z's should know, they are horrible, but if we let him kill them, it will be on our consciences." Ten Cents said.  
"I'll go and deal with the Z's, I can get their quickest." Sally said, and they all cleared away, allowing her to speed past and take off into the air.  
"Can you three go and alert anyone you can find: Star Tug, the Coast Tug, one of the engines, even Bluenose." Ten Cents said. "We must get the word out."  
"Of course!" Grampus said, and he sunk underneath the water.  
"I'll go and get Admiral, he'll help me look." Archer said. She stared briefly at Ten Cents, before turning around and heading away. Sunshine saw Ten Cent's look of longing, and sighed and left his friend. Ten Cents didn't notice he had left for several moments, by which time Archer had disappeared. Slowly, he turned around and chugged away towards Star Dock.

The Z-Stacks struggled enough to get their contracts, but keeping them was the difficult bit. Today, all five Z-Stacks were towing down a number of barges for scrap. There had been a railway accident the other day, and their barges were full of wheels, broken axles and the remains of flatbeds and trucks.  
"Why are there so many bloody barges?" Zorran snarled, as he struggled forwards with his four.  
"Because there are too many bloody trains with too many bloody trucks!" Zak replied, his voice croaky than normal. Up River was quiet except for their grunts and muttered complaints. The five had seen Big Mac and Billy go past, towing only a few barges of munitions and the new naval weapon. Zorran had launched into a ten minute rant about the Star Tugs, but they were struggling so much with their heavy loads, he ran out of puff and stopped.  
"We better move aside, St Patrick's coming." Zebedee mumbled. Lord Lucky was moving cheerily towards them, as the Z's muttered and grumbled, moving asides for him.  
"Top of the morning to you Z's." Lord Lucky said, staring towards the source of the noise.  
"Hello." Zip said happily, and everyone glared at him.  
"Sally Seaplane is waiting for you all at the river mouth." Lord Lucky said, continuing on his way. "She sounded very anxious."  
"What does the seaplane want with us?" Zak said. They all stared at Zorran, but he was already charging ahead as quickly as possible, and the others followed.  
Sally was sitting on the water, being bounced slightly by the water. She was staring around, half expecting Johnny Cuba to leap out and attack her. She turned around towards Up River, and gasped as Zorran emerged from the shadows.

"Nice to see you too." Zorran snarled. "Now what do you want?"  
"Johnny Cuba is back in town." Sally said, and all the Z's looked stunned, none more than Zebedee. Quickly, Sally retold all the information she knew, which seemed to worry them more.  
"We need to get you back to Zero Dock, we'll be able to help you easily from there." Sally concluded.  
"What about our barges, we need the money!" Zug said.  
"If you are so concerned, you and Zip can take them all!" Zorran snarled, and was already untying his. Sally looked sternly at Zorran, and he knew they needed her guidance to get back safely. "Fine, take your barges to those scrap dealing idiots, and then get back to our dock straight away!" Zebedee and Zak left their barges behind as well, and Sally sped off along the water, before taking off into the air. As Zorran, Zak and Zebedee followed after her, Zip and Zug exchanged looks and sighed, and headed off towards the scrap dealers warehouse.

One of the best places to hide is amongst a crowd. There are so many people or tugs around, that it is nearly impossible to see or hear what anyone else is doing. As Burke and Blair's warehouse, a large structure made out of the steel from their victims, was near to the main railway port, the two agreed to meet the shrimpers there. There were lots of tugs and other ships moving around, trying to get to the cranes on the docks first.  
"OJ and Top Hatt are over there." Burke said, and signalled to where the two Stars were, at the front of the crowd trying to control them.  
"I don't really care about them, keeping Cuba happy is more important." Blair replied. In the distance, they could see a group of eight shrimpers, all painted in a murky brown colour. The two tugs rushed over, and the head shrimper, known only as Q, smiled.  
"Burke, Blair, how are you?" Q said. "It has been a long time."  
"We know." Blair said, forcing a smile. "But we cannot catch up now, we must make this quick." He and Burke were looking around nervously. Archer and Admiral were coming into view, looking around OJ and Top Hatt.  
"What are those two doing?" Admiral said, looking over towards Burke and Blair. "It looks very suspicious.  
"Shall we go and investigate?" Archer joked, and Admiral smiled as the two slyly moved over.  
"Johnny Cuba? I have not heard of him before." Q was saying.  
"He is a sort of a gangster." Burke said. "He needs some help with collecting some supplies." Q seemed to ponder this, and none of them noticed as Zip and Zug entered the area, panting and towing their barges of scrap.  
"I think it is a deal, as long we are paid." Q replied, and Burke and Blair nodded.  
"Gareth, our shrimper friend, will meet you outside the café at midnight." Blair said.  
"Good good." Q replied, and he turned and set off, his crew following him behind. Burke and Blair let out a sigh of relief, and then turned and moved out of the port.  
"Isn't Gareth that psychotic shrimper who attacked the Z's?" Zug said, sounding concerned.  
"I don't know, you lot never tell me anything!" Zip said huffily.  
"Yes yes, of course we don't." Zug said, ignoring him. "Let's leave these barges and go and see Zorran." As the two untied, Archer quickly towed Admiral out of earshot from any passing boats.  
"Those scrap dealers are in on this!" She hissed.  
"Oh really Sherlock, I didn't notice that." Admiral snapped, and Archer angrily rammed into him.  
"There's no time for jokes, we need to warn OJ and Top Hatt, and then get back to Star Dock and warn them all!" Archer said. Admiral nodded, and the two rushed back over, pushing through the crowd, while Zip and Zug rushed away to reveal the shocking news.

"Hurry up, hurry up, I can't have any of you getting blown up!" Captain Zero bellowed, as Zorran, Zebedee and Zak rushed through the water. They blew their hooters in thanks to Sally, who began to descend towards Lucky's Yard.  
"This is very, very bad news." Captain Zero said, sounding more nervous than any of the Z's had ever heard him. "We can't leave our dock until he is caught. We won't have any money, and I truly need the- where are the switchers?" The megaphone moved around, like a dog sniffing out a target.  
"They went to deliver the scrap barges." Zorran explained.  
"Why didn't you bring the barges with you, we could have made a barrier!" Captain Zero squawked. Zorran blushed, and Zebedee and Zak looked worried that they'd be shouted at next. But then, they heard several hooters. They turned and gasped.  
Moving slowly towards them was Ten Cents, Warrior and the Fire Tug. Behind them, they were towing a number of familiar faces: Lord Stinker, Pearl, Mighty Moe, Scuttlebutt Pete and Little Ditcher, along with dozens of assorted barges and several fire ones.  
"When Ten Cents brought me the news of Johnny Cuba, I thought it would be best to protect you all." Captain Starr said from over the fence. "So I told Ten Cents to look around for anything that could be used to protect you from Johnny Cuba and his goons, or at least alert you towards any danger."  
"I didn't need your help, Starr!" Captain Zero snapped, though his voice was considerably less anxious. Ten Cents smirked at Warrior, and they, along with the Fire Tug, moved the barges around in a chain.  
"We better not get killed trying to save this lot!" Mighty Moe snapped.  
"You won't get killed, we just some extra help." Ten Cents reassured them.  
"Good, because they aren't worth it!" Lord Stinker said, and there were mumbled agreements.  
"If you don't like us then why did you come?" Zak snapped.  
"Zak, very few people like you, but if Johnny Cuba kills you all, then we wouldn't have anyone to laugh at behind their backs." Scuttlebutt snapped, and everyone chuckled at them. Just then, Zip and Zug appeared, panting even more.  
"Listen everyone, we hear-" Zug began, but he was instantly ignored.  
"Are any other tugs going to help protect us?" Zorran demanded.  
"Old Rusty and that fruit one would make great barriers." Zebedee said.  
"Big Mac, Sunshine and Grampus are going to help soon." Ten Cents said, sighing. Zug and Zip looked a bit agitated, and tried to get more attention.  
"Hello?"  
"We have stuff to say!"  
"I have to go now, Bluenose will have a fit if I am not there on time." Fire Tug said. "Bye!" And there were a chorus of goodbyes from Ten Cents, Warrior and the barges and cranes. Ten Cents noticed Zip and Zug for the first time, and quickly moved aside a fuel barge and Pearl to let them through. The two muttered their thanks, before quickly scuttling over to be out of the way.  
"Should we tell them?" Zip said, as the other Z's went to discuss plans. Zug considered, but then shook his head.  
"They made us do the work, we risked our lives and they won't even listen to us." He said. "If Johnny Cuba and those shrimpers pop by and get rid of them, then so be it."

OJ and Top Hatt watched happily as the final tugboat chugged away, and the waters around the main railway dock were finally empty. It seemed eerily quiet after the noise for the past few hours.  
"I am never doing that again!" Top Hatt fumed.  
"Don't be so snobbish!" OJ said, rolling his eyes. Top Hatt stared at the paddle tug, looking very cross.  
"I am not being selfish, it is just very annoying having to do all that work!" Top Hatt said, and OJ chuckled. There were three impatient whistles behind them, and the two tugs towards Puffa, Huffa and Chuffa II.  
"Do you think we can go yet?" Huffa huffed.  
"We have been waiting for ages!" Puffa puffed.  
"So sorry boys, but it's not our fault." Top Hatt said. OJ looked towards a small wooden crane, which was lowering the last of the loads into Chuffa II's trucks.  
"Chuffa, you can go in a minute, your loads are ready." He said.  
"Thank god!" Chuffa II chuffed, while Puffa and Huffa stared angrily at him. There was a movement behind them, and the two tugs turned around as Hercules appeared, towing Old Rusty behind him.  
"Hello darlings, can't stop to chat, I've got a very important load!" Hercules said.  
"Have you heard about Johnny Cuba?" OJ said.  
"Yes yes, Sunshine came past earlier, brought me up to date." Hercules replied. "But I saw Hermes earlier, and he said that there haven't been any sightings of him yet."  
"It could be a mistake." Top Hatt suggested.  
"Either way, there is still a naval operation we have to be at!" Old Rusty huffed.  
"Quite right darling. Well, see you all later, and watch out for any eye patches on your way back to dock." Hercules said, and he blew his hooter and chugged away past an office building.  
"I hope that this Johnny Cuba thing is all fake, I don't really want to get shot or blown up." Top Hatt said. But just as he finished talking, there was a small bang. Everyone looked, and they saw smoke rising from a small bridge connecting the dock to the fast route across the waterways. OJ moved cautiously forwards, and realised that someone had blown up the supports.  
"Don't go on the bridge, it's been tampered with!" He yelled. The paddle tug moved ever more so slowly forwards. No one was there, though a barge was floating by, unattended.  
"Be careful!" Huffa yelled, as OJ began to move under the bridge. Top Hatt began to rush forwards, feeling worried, and was about to call out to OJ when the barge exploded.  
"OJ!" Top Hatt bellowed, as a cloud of black smoke engulfed the paddle tug. He rushed forwards, trying to find him, when the bridge creaked and snapped. The two halves now blocked his way ahead, and the smoke was still clearing.  
"Where is he, is he alright?" Huffa said, racing forwards. Top Hatt raised his wheelhouse, and managed to see over the disappearing smoke. OJ was moving quickly, but not under his own steam. He was being towed away, but though Top Hatt couldn't see his face, he could still see who it was.  
An all to familiar green shrimper.

The scene at the demolition site was quite intense. Billy was inside the rusting blue warehouse that would be blown up, setting up several barrels of gunpowder that would help fuel the explosion. Bluenose and Junior were watching this, several metres away from the safe zone. Big Mac and the Coast Guard were on the sidelines, watching for out for Hercules, Old Rusty, and most importantly, Johnny Cuba.  
"Where has that moronic ocean goer got to?" Bluenose snarled.  
"Right here darling." A smooth voice said, and Hercules and Old Rusty came into view.  
"Any sign of Cuba?" The Coast Guard asked, but Bluenose cut in front.  
"Where were you?" He snapped.  
"As always, it's a pleasure to see you to Bluenose." Hercules said, staring at the naval tug. He then shook his head at the Coast Guard, who looked a bit upset.  
"We are running behind schedule!" Junior puffed.  
"I am aware of that." Hercules said, and pushed past the naval boats, and quickly moved inside the warehouse.  
"Actually Hercules, they need the weapon out there." Billy said. "I recommend you head back before Captain Knows-Nothing over there blows his stack."  
"Bluenose knows not to anger me." Hercules said, but he moved back out all the same.  
"We have the special weapon!" Old Rusty said. He lowed a hatch on his side, and a small naval crane quickly hooked up the weapon.  
"Perfect." Bluenose said with a grin, as the gun was loaded down into a barge.  
"That is a real beaut!" Big Mac said.  
"It certainly is." An Australian accent said. Everyone gasped and turned around. The Coast Guard lying up on some rocks, and Johnny Cuba sidled into view. Everyone turned to fight, but Johnny was too quick. He spun around, smashing Big Mac into Junior. The two smashed into the rocks as well, leaving a big pile up.  
"What a pretty little gun." Johnny said.  
"This is naval property, don't touch!" Bluenose snarled, but Johnny Cuba looked down at him and the tugboat cowered behind Old Rusty. Old Rusty, however, was determined to protect the others.  
"Leave now, Cuba, and we won't have to resort to violence." He said. Johnny Cuba cackled and moved up next to him.  
"But I only came here for the violence." He said, and then rammed into him. Hercules and Bluenose had both been behind the tramp steamer, and they were now being pushed as well. All three cried out as they headed for the warehouse. Billy gasped, and watched as Old Rusty was pushed into the side of the building. Johnny Cuba moved away, and Old Rusty tried to move, but he was stuck, along with the three assorted tugs.  
"That's what happens when you mess with Johnny Cuba." The Australian snarled. He looked around Old Rusty, and could see the barrels of gunpowder. "Well this just got a little bit more interesting." And he breathed in deeply, and then released a series of sparks. Several landed on the fuse, and it burst into flames.  
"NO!" Bluenose yelled, and Old Rusty smirked. He moved over towards the barge with the special gun, and tied himself to it. Than, with a last look towards the unconscious Big Mac, the cowering navy crane and Old Rusty fighting to free himself, the tramp steamer smiled and set off back towards his hideout.  
Now, nothing and no one could stop him.


	16. Revenge: Heroes

"Help! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"  
But no matter how hard they screamed, no one was anyone near the abandoned warehouse. Hercules, Bluenose and Billy were ramming against Old Rusty, whilst crying out between smashes. But the old tram steamer wasn't budging, and Big Mac, Junior and the Coastguard where still out for the count. The sea was quiet, the air was still. Hercules gave one last giant push, before backing off and staring towards the gun powder with the others. The flame was moving as rapidly as ever, and they only had a minute, two at the most, to live.  
"I am sorry for getting trapped." Old Rusty said sadly.  
"You should be." Bluenose said. Hercules and Billy glared at the naval tug.  
"It isn't your fault darling." Hercules said. "It's Johnny Cuba's and you know it."  
"But if I wasn't so long-"  
"Cut this talk out right now!" Hercules said, suddenly cross. "There is nothing wrong with you in the slightest. There is a chance we are all going to die, and I am not going out listening to you complaining about something Johnny Cuba has done."  
"Brilliant final words." Billy said solemnly, as he had his eyes fixed towards the explosives. Everyone had always joked he'd end up blowing himself up, but the alligator tug never imagined that he would be killed by the things he loved.  
"Listen." Hercules said suddenly, as the fuse became only five metres long. Everyone fell silent, and they stared towards the back of the trees. There was a chuffing sound coming closer and closer, and then they heard the familiar whistle belonging to Puffa.  
"PUFFA, SAVE US!" Bluenose screamed. "WE'RE TRAPPED IN THE WAREHOUSE!" Hercules blew his hooter as loud as he could, hoping the steam engine heard.  
Thankfully, the attack on the bridge had had one good effect. Puffa's train had been delayed by forty five minutes, so he had been allowed to take the long way, pushing the freight in front of him.. The signalman informed him that the test hadn't taken place yet, so Puffa was now speeding through. The line was old and bumpy, and Puffa could only rely on the familiar surroundings to know where he was going.  
"How am I suppose to see the red flags saying 'don't cross' with some bloody trucks in the way?" Puffa fumed. Then, he heard the sounds of Hercules' hooter and the cries of help. "I wonder what that is about…" The steam engine said, and began to slow down. However, he couldn't stop instantly due to his speed, and skidded several metres. He was unaware that the points had been switched, and his trucks rolled forwards and smashed through the rotten buffers at the end of the siding.  
"Oh no!" Puffa cried, as the front truck burst through the back wall, snapping the wood like twigs. Sparks flew as the metal wheels screeched over the concrete, and the first trucker, a low loader, tipped over the edge. It was too long to sink, and it swung to the side. The hopper behind was following at the same pace, but diverted to the sides. The a van smashed into the side, causing the hopper to tip over onto its side. The sand it was carrying tipped over the gunpowder and dynamite. The fuse was completely covered, and the rapidly moving spark was quickly squashed. Hercules, Bluenose, Billy and Old Rusty all looked towards the explosives, ignoring a van which splashed into the water.  
"Sorry if I ruined your test." Puffa called out as he listened to the stunned silence.  
"Ruined it, you just saved our lives!" Hercules yelled, and everyone broke into celebration, relieved at their close call.. Puffa was stunned by this, but merely shrugged it off. He was use to the tugboats madness, after all.  
"I better go get the breakdown crane, do you guys need anything?" Puffa said.  
"Contact the navy at once if you would." Bluenose boomed. "We need a number of speedboats and another crane out here as soon as possible."  
"And the Star Tugs!" Old Rusty added. Puffa whistled in understanding, and pulled his four surviving vans and coal hoppers backwards, before heading off down the line.

Several hours had passed since Top Hatt, Sunshine, and a variety of naval craft pulled Old Rusty free, and towed the injured Big Mac, Junior and Coastguard back towards Lucky's Yard for a check up. The Z-Stacks were still under protection. Many ships were looking for OJ, but the paddle tug could have disappeared out of the city for all anyone knew. Midnight was fast approaching, and the navy speedboats on the job knew that they would have no chance finding him in the darkness, and were forced to retire for the night.  
Johnny Cuba smirked with triumph as he watched the last speedboat rush past, clearly desperate to rest after a hard few hours looking.  
"They have passed, we can keep going." The Australian hissed. Behind him, Sea Rogue and Gareth watched as a secretive trade took place. Q had made contact with some friends in Uptown. They had moved swiftly, and the pack of shrimpers brought down fifteen barges, each filled with a plentiful supply of alcohol, gunpowder, fuel and dynamite. Q's shrimpers were now moving the barges over, while Q and the other shrimper exchanged money.  
"What exactly do you need these all for?" Sea Rogue said. Gareth tutted and looked around.  
"Isn't it obvious?" He snapped. When Sea Rogue merely raised an eyebrow, the shrimper explained. "What do all of these things have in common? They all go boom when they go near fire. Now, how could that be effective to some villains like us?"  
"You mean your going to blow something up?" Sea Rogue whispered, clearly appalled.  
"Correct." Johnny Cuba sneered, as he moved swiftly through the water towards the explosives.

"I'll be seeing you soon." Q said to the other shrimper gang, who nodded and turned around. Q looked around at Johnny Cuba, who inspected the explosives. "Are they all good?" Johnny Cuba paused for several seconds, staring intensely towards them.  
"They will do." The tram steamer said. "I want the barges to be taken to their respective places: Zero Dock, the Navy and the central railway docks. Move, now!" Q's shrimpers all rushed towards their barges. They were tied in a line, and six shrimpers tied themselves up, and slowly began to move, each heading in a different direction.  
"They'll take around an hour to get the barges set up." Q said.  
"Very good, you and Gareth head back to the warehouses, make sure our hostage isn't causing any hassle." Johnny Cuba said, as he headed back where he came from.  
"What about me?" Sea Rogue asked. Johnny Cuba paused briefly, as his eyes glanced towards the Star Tug.  
"Go to the Star and Zero Docks and watch them. Make sure no one leaves."  
"I have no weapons to threaten them with." Sea Rogue replied, earning himself a booming laugh from Q.  
"I don't want you to threaten them, I want you to sink them." Johnny Cuba said simply, and he floated away into the night, disappearing in an instant.

January 28th 1924

There was a nasty chill in the air as the sun began to rise, and Ten Cents was awoken by the unexpected freeze. Even though winter was leaving, there was still the occasional cold weather now and again. Ten Cents looked around at where he was sleeping: he had forgotten about the Z-Stacks, and was surprised to find himself between a fuel barge and Little Ditcher.  
"You alright there?" The crane said.  
"I'm fine." Ten Cents yawned. "I just forgot why I was here." Little Ditcher chuckled, and when he stopped, Ten Cents was able to hear the complaints of his friends as they were woken up.  
"Did you have to be so loud?" Fire Tug complained from near Star Dock. He had been up late, helping with the clearing of the explosives and Puffa's train, and then being reprimanded for being late to the test. Bluenose had complained about this, stating it was Fire Tug's fault that they got captured, but everyone involved was being scolded. Top Hatt had seen a naval tug interviewing Big Mac and the Coastguard at Lucky's Yard.  
"Sorry for being a bit noisy." Ten Cents said, yawning at the end of his sentence.  
"You shouldn't be sorry, we need to be up early." Old Rusty cried.  
"If we sleep in, we won't find OJ." Sunshine said, pulling out from Star Dock. Ten Cents nodded, and began to move out of the barrier of boats when a hooter sounded behind him. The switcher turned around and saw Zorran moving forwards, looking very grumpy.  
"Who is going to protect us while you lot are out looking for the old timer?" The harbour tug growled.  
"Not all of us are going, dust for brains!" Lord Stinker yelled, and Pearl sniggered. Zorran opened his mouth to reply, but Ten Cents merely smirked and turned away. Zorran fumed and moved back to the other Z's.  
"Nice one." Sunshine said as the two switchers moved into Star Dock.  
"Thank Lord Stinker, he and Scuttlebutt are the experts at putting boats in their place." Ten Cents said. Old Rusty, Grampus and Warrior were the only ones at the Dock, all looking towards Ten Cents.  
"Have you heard anything?" Ten Cents asked.  
"Not yet." Warrior said sadly.  
"Top Hatt is going to collect Frank and Eddie, and hopefully the engines would have seen OJ, and Hercules has been searching all night." Captain Starr said through his megaphone. "But even though we are going through a tough time, I still need you all to work. Warrior and Sunshine, you two stay here and help guard. When Big Mac is finished having his check up, he'll take over for Warrior. Ten Cents, please take Old Rusty to collect some of the explosives and truck remains from the test site. Grampus, I want you to go and search for Johnny Cuba. There is not much work we can do with nearly all our contracts protecting the Z-Stacks."  
"It wouldn't be good if they all get blown up." Sunshine said, smiling slightly, and the others smiled at the light-hearted joke. Captain Starr chuckled, before telling them all to head off.  
From behind the row of barges and cranes, Zip and Zug watched as they went past.  
"Should we tell them about Burke and Blair?" Zip asked, as Sunshine and Warrior took their places in the row. Zug had a furious, ugly look on his face, and shook his cab.  
"No one wanted to listen to us before, so we aren't going to help them out now." He said. "When the time is right, we'll sneak out and do our own snooping." Zip gasped at this, but Zug glared at him before backing away. Zip gulped and moved back towards the other Z-Stacks, thinking that Zug probably knew what he was doing.

"Wake up, paddler!"  
OJ groaned as he forced his eyes open, trying to look around. But before he could take in his surroundings, a very ugly face was forced into his line of vision.  
"Morning there sunshine." Gareth sneered. "Have a lovely sleep? It looked very peaceful."  
"What do you want?" OJ growled, as he blinked his eyes, adjusting to the light shining through a crack in the roof.  
"It seems the memory of destroying my brothers and sister isn't bothering you." Gareth continued, and began to circle OJ. The paddle tug could see he was in a dilapidated warehouse.  
"Stereotypical villains." He mumbled.  
"What was that?" Gareth said angrily, ramming into OJ.  
"I said stereotypical villains, always locking us in warehouses!" OJ yelled back. The door creaked open as Gareth slammed into OJ again, this time making him move.  
"Don't bother slamming him, we are going to do a lot worse to him later." Johnny Cuba said. OJ's eyes bulged in shock, and he stared up at the towering figure.  
"Hello there, you must be OJ." The Australian said, nodding towards him. "I have heard of you, along with the rest of your Star Tug friends, but I haven't met you yet."  
"What do you want from me? Why did you kidnap me!" OJ cried, sucking up as much courage as possible.  
"I didn't arrange for your kidnapping." Cuba said, glaring over at Gareth. "That was my shrimper friend's grand idea. However, I do not mind the waste of explosives, as your capture has thrown your friends off course. They think it has fuelled their want to capture me, but now that they are emotionally attached, it will be more difficult."  
"My friends don't deserve this, just let me free and leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone!" OJ cried. Johnny Cuba let out a booming laugh, causing the rotten rafters above to shake.  
"We both know that ain't true." The tram steamer said in a degrading tone. "You lot are all scum, and it is partially your fault I got locked up in the first place."  
"It's all their fault I got locked up as well!" Gareth added.  
"I know THAT!" Johnny Cuba roared, his patience slipping away. "And it is the navy's fault that Sea Rogue got arrested. So today, the navy shall be blown up, the railway dock, where lots of your work is done, shall be blown up, and the Zero Dock will be blown up, hopefully destroying part of your dock as well." OJ's eyes bulged even further, and he stared in shock between Gareth and Johnny Cuba.  
"Oh, and by the way, we're blowing you up later as well." Gareth said happily.  
"Oh my…" OJ said, as he turned white and backed into a corner. Johnny cackled and moved out of the warehouse, with Gareth close behind. OJ watched them leave and close the door, and felt a tear stream down his face.  
"Oh please Ten Cent, Sunshine, Hercules, anyone… please save me." The paddle tug said, as he slinked further out of the light and towards the cold darkness.

Puffa, Huffa and Chuffa II were enjoying the early morning at the main railway harbour: there were few boats around, and the gantry cranes were dealing with unloading their trucks. Mighty Moe had been brought from Zero Dock to help with the rebuilding the bridge, and a number of barges and two smaller cranes surrounded him, preparing to fix up the foundations. Top Hatt chugged into the harbour, with Frank and Eddie on either side.  
"Any luck finding OJ?" Huffa said.  
"Not yet unfortunately." Top Hatt said sadly. "However, the navy is sending out more speedboats, so hopefully they'll be able to help Hercules find him and Johnny Cuba."  
"Do you think that shrimper is connected to Cuba?" Chuffa II said.  
"We are certain." Top Hatt said, as he moved Eddie towards the low dock where Puffa was preparing some fuel trucks to be pushed onto the barge.  
"You know what I heard?" Frank said.  
"No one cares about your gossip." Top Hatt snapped.  
"Oh, it's not gossip." Frank explained. "I heard something last night."  
"I heard something last night as well." Eddie said.  
"Doesn't surprise, you're both as idiotic as the other." Top Hatt mumbled, but the barges ignored him.  
"I heard several boats, talking in mixed languages: there was a bit of French in there, a bit of Italian." Eddie said.  
"They were obviously working on something, and they said 'Q' a lot." Frank said. Top Hatt raised an eyebrow, and the steam engines were muttering too each other.  
"They were heading towards here I believe." Eddie added.  
"I don't know what they were doing Eddie, but it must have been mischievous." Frank said.  
"Quite right there Frank." Eddie concluded. Top Hatt was now very worried, and he spun around, making the barges turn with him. He raised his wheelhouse, and stared all around the surrounding area: asides from the bridge crew, only a naval tugboat towing supplies and an old schooner were nearby. There wasn't anything suspicious, until Mighty Moe cried out.  
"Top Hatt, there are some barges over there!" The floating crane yelled, having eavesdropped on the conversation. Top Hatt looked around to where the crane was pointing, and two barges poking out into open waters from an alley between two square warehouses.  
"Don't go near." Mighty Moe said, as Top Hatt began to head towards it.  
"What if they are going to blow us up, we can't just leave them to do it!" The railway tug snapped. They froze as three shrimpers appeared out, trying to push the barges back in.  
"OI, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR UP TO?" Huffa boomed, thinking it would help.  
"Ssssssh!" Top Hatt said, but the shrimpers turned around, staring straight at them. One of them looked back into the alley and spoke to someone. Another shrimper pulled out, and it seemed more would come.  
"What are we going to do?" Top Hatt whimpered, as six shrimpers led the barges out, with a larger one behind them. The barges nearby squealed, Frank and Eddie's jaws dropped, and the engines blew their whistles, hoping someone useful would come and save them…  
"Navy coming through!" A voice yelled from behind them. Top Hatt cursed his luck: the only thing worse than being killed by shrimpers was having Bluenose come to your rescue.  
"They have explosives!" The voice of Junior exclaimed.  
"Move Top Hatt, they've got weapons!" Chuffa II cried. Top Hatt quickly moved to the left, and watched in shock as Bluenose boomed out 'FIRE', and three naval speedboats activated the guns on two barges. The bullets skimmed past Mighty Moe, and slammed into two barrels of gunpowder. The bullets caused the powder to catch ablaze, and the first barge exploded in a ball of flames, instantly killing four of the shrimpers who had tried to flee. Another was hit by the shockwave, and then hit full blast as the second barge exploded. Bluenose, Junior and the speedboats raced forwards, and watched as the shrimper who had been behind rushed through the alleyway.  
"That was Q!" Junior gasped.  
"I know that!" Bluenose snapped, and looked at two of the speedboats. "Chase him, and take one of the barges with you!" And YOU, don't even think of moving!" The tugboat boomed to one shrimper who had tried slinking away. Two speedboats quickly untied a barge, and then raced off through the alleyway, while their comrade approached the remaining shrimper.  
"My name is Bluenose from the navy." Bluenose yelled. "I want you to tell me all of the plans your villainous friends have planned." The shrimper was very nervous around the navy, and was shocked by the destruction of his friends, but he was more afraid of what Johnny Cuba would do if he found out the shrimper told.  
"I have been sworn to secrecy!" He said proudly. But Bluenose smashed into his bow, and the speedboat edged the gun closer.  
"You have three seconds." Bluenose said. "One… two…" The shrimper decided that Johnny Cuba wasn't worth dying over.  
"Ok, ok!" He cried. "This Australian tram steamer, Johnny Cuba, hired my boss. Another shrimper gang brought down some alcohol, explosives and stuff like that. My group brought it down here first, and my boss came to check."  
"Your group, are there more?" Junior asked.  
"Yes, there are two more groups. One is at the naval base, and another is at a place called Zero Dock." The shrimper said.  
"Where is Cuba?" Bluenose growled.  
"One of my friends said he helped take a paddle tug to some burnt out warehouses far away from the rest of the city. Johnny Cuba was there as well, apparently." The shrimper replied. Bluenose pondered for a second and then turned towards the others.  
"Do you know where this is?"  
"Sounds like the Coastal Crusaders old area." Top Hatt replied. "We did a job near there once."  
"Right. Junior, we need to alert all units. We need a team at Zero Dock, the Naval Reserve and this Coastal Crusaders place." Bluenose boomed, before moving slightly towards the railway dock. "Steam engines, please contact anyone you see to go to one of these places. Top Hatt, can you go to Star Dock and Zero Dock and try to evacuate the area." Top Hatt went to talk back, but the naval speedboat cut through.  
"What about this one?" He said, staring towards the cowering shrimper. Bluenose looked at him for half a second, before smirking.  
"Shoot him, arrest him, do whatever you want." The tugboat replied, before racing quickly away towards the naval reserve. Junior went in the opposite direction towards the Star and Zero Docks, and Top Hatt sighed.  
"I'll leave you two here, but I'll finish the work after all this is over." He said, and followed about Junior. There was the sound of gunfire and a loud scream, and Top Hatt shuddered at the thought of the sinking shrimper.

The first sounds of gunfire and explosions had spooked Burke and Blair as they passed several warehouses nearby. They were pulling three barges of old scrap, covering up some oil splattered bits of wood.  
"What does Cuba even want this for?" Burke growled.  
"Keep your voice down, we don't know who might be listening." Blair said, looking around cautiously.  
"No one is near us!" Burke snapped, as he began to turn down an alleyway. It was a kilometre in front of the Star and Zero Docks, and the two hoped no one would see them. But as they raced through the alleyway, they heard Junior enter behind them, and sped up.  
"Quickly, QUICKLY!" Blair squealed, as the two raced out into open waters.  
At Zero Dock, everyone had heard the faint sound of gunfire. Big Mac had returned to service, but was still recuperating and was standing guard with Warrior. Sunshine had gone off to assist Hercules with searching some different areas of the city.  
"Don't move anyone!" The harbour tug boomed, as he raced towards a gun barge that had been stored nearby. Everyone looked around, whispering to each other about what was going on.  
"No one move, we must be protected!" Captain Zero yelled. Zug rolled his eyes and floated towards Pearl, who was facing towards Up River.  
"Can you see anything?" The tugboat asked.  
"Only Burke and Blair moving surprisingly fast, but no one cares about them." Pearl chuckled. But Zug's eyes were nearly bursting out of his head, and he moved back and bumped Zip.  
"Burke and Blair are on the move, let's go!" Zug said.  
"But Captain Zero just said to stay here!" Zip said. Zug groaned and moved to push his friend.  
"I don't care, we just need to go!" He protested, and shoved him forwards.  
"Alright, alright!" Zip said, and the two moved quickly, sneaking in between Pearl and another barge.  
"Hey, wait, come back!" The barge squeaked, but the two switchers were intent on chasing after Burke and Blair. Pearl sighed and looked back towards the others. If she had stayed looking just a second longer, she would have seen Sea Rogue peer out from the same alleyway Burke and Blair had come out, and watch the mild chaos with complete sadness about what he would soon have to do.

The sounds of explosions echoed all over the city, and Ten Cents and Old Rusty froze in their tracks as they made their way back from the warehouse.  
"What's going on, can you see anything?" Ten Cents asked, looking a row of buildings two kilometres away.  
"I may be taller, but my eyesight is worse than yours." Old Rusty said. "I can't see anything past that brown office building." Ten Cents swore, and began to proceed slowly forwards.  
"What do you think you're up to?" Ten Cents looked around, and saw Archer and Admiral moving towards them.  
"Hello." Ten Cents mumbled, blushing.  
"We were just collecting some of the last explosives from the warehouse." Old Rusty said.  
"Hope nothing blows up." Admiral smirked.  
"This ones going off on another fruit related voyage." Archer said, smiling. "Did you hear those explosions, what do you think is going on?"  
"Johnny Cuba, of course." Old Rusty said. "We'd best be heading back to Star Dock and make sure everyone is alright."  
"I'll see you later than." Archer said. "Bye Ten Cents."  
"Bye Admiral, safe trip!" Old Rusty said. Ten Cents opened his mouth, plucking the courage to say goodbye, when another explosion sounded, this time closer towards the ocean.  
"Where is that from?" Archer cried, looking worried as a fist of orange flames punched the sky.

"It's the naval reserve!" Ten Cents boomed in horror. The two tugboats and their tram steamers raced forwards. In front of them, they saw the Coast Guard and Hermes racing forwards. They heard more speedboat engines behind them, and moved aside to let nearly dozen naval speedboats race past. The fire was being replaced by dark grey smoke, and they were started to hear shouts of warning and worry.  
"Maybe we shouldn't go any further." Admiral said.  
"Right you are!" Bluenose boomed, as he raced alongside. "This is naval business. You lot go and deal with the Zero Dock and that Coastal Crusty Raiding group thingy." And the naval boat rushed off.  
"What is he on about?" Archer said.  
"The Coastal Crusaders is a long story, but if Cuba is up there, it could be his base." Ten Cents said. "And we all know of Zero Do-" Then the switcher froze in shock, as he realised something Bluenose had left out. "There's another bomb at Zero Dock! We have to stop it!" He boomed, and quickly turned around.  
"I have to send Admiral off!" Archer yelled. "But I'll come help in a minute!" Ten Cents heard none of this, as he went at top speeds to save his friends.

Sea Rogue watched as Big Mac patrolled the perimeter, the gun barge tied to his side. Warrior was staying put, trying to talk to Zorran, who was shouting and complaining about everything. A small naval boat was nearby, and Sea Rogue remembered his name being Junior, one of those who had been at Mittsville when he was arrested. Captain Zero and Captain Starr were shouting through their megaphones, trying to give clashing orders. They had all heard the naval reserve bomb, and everyone was very tense.  
"Are we going to blow them up or not?" Sea Rogue looked around, and saw one of Q's shrimpers behind him, waiting to push the explosive barges out. There were three others waiting, all wanting to charge out and destroy the unsuspecting tugboats, barges, cranes and the two buildings.  
"Wait a second, someone is coming." Sea Rogue said, as Top Hatt chugged through the water.  
"We have waited long, enough let's just go!" One of the shrimpers at the back huffed, and pushed them forwards.  
"Stop it, they have a gun!" Sea Rogue protested, but they were already out of their hiding spot and heading towards them.  
"Top Hatt, what news do you have?" Big Mac boomed.  
"Same as what Junior has brought you." Top Hatt replied. "Did you hear that explosion?"  
"I heard it, it was really loud!" Warrior grunted. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the reserve when tha-"  
"BOMB!" Zebedee yelled in a feminine voice. They all turned to see Sea Rogue, the three barges and the four shrimpers.  
"This is from Johnny Cuba." One of the shrimpers snarled, and the others chuckled deviously. They began to charge forwards, surging against Sea Rogue's attempts to stop them.  
"Sea Rogue!" Warrior exclaimed.  
"Halt right there!" Junior boomed, as he slammed up against the gun barge. Big Mac was surprised, and the barge was forced so it pointed towards the shrimpers. They stopped, but Sea Rogue kept going and smashed into a fuel barge.  
"We can't have you lot causing any more disruption!" Junior said. "No one here deserves to be blown up!"  
"I'd disagree with that." Big Mac muttered, looking towards a scared looking Zorran, Zebedee and Zak.  
"That is fine, we'll back off!" Sea Rogue said. He had damaged the fuel tank, causing oil to spill over his deck and cab.  
"Let's just let them go, there is no point shooting them or getting to close." Big Mac said. "They'll just blow the barges up and kill us." Junior stared at Big Mac, and a smirk appeared across his face.  
"You want to save that eye patched one, don't you?"  
"He doesn't mean that in the slightest!" Top Hatt huffed. "If those barges blow up, lots of our friends will be killed!"  
"Not to mention their contractors." Zak added.  
"Shut it Zak, or I'll thump you with my arm!" Scuttlebutt growled, and Zak sheepishly backed away. There was the sound of a hooter in the distance, and the tug boats turned to see Ten Cents in the distance, getting steadily closer.  
"CHARGE!" One of the shrimpers yelled. They moved forwards, and everything happened at once.  
Sea Rogue moved swiftly first, charging into Pearl and the fuel barge, pushing them out of harm's way. Junior smashed into the gun again, and the force set the gun off. Bullets tore through the air, flying everywhere.  
"STOP!" Captain Starr boomed, but no one heard him as the barges and cranes screamed. Warrior bashed into Lord Stinker, causing him and Little Ditcher to be pulled out of the line of fire. Top Hatt sped forwards, and pulled move cranes and barges back. Big Mac fought to shut off the guns, as two bullets hit too big targets.  
The explosives.  
The fuel covering Sea Rogue.  
The alcohol barrels on the barges burst into flames, and Zorran screamed and smashed into the barges with such force they floated backwards, taking the four shrimpers tied with it. The alcohol exploded, setting off a chain reaction. All four shrimpers were instantly blown apart, along with a large section of the Zero Building. Captain Zero squawked as his megaphone fell down, and clattered off the flaming deck and into the water.  
Sea Rogue had been turning, trying to avoid the bullets. He barely noticed the blur of one as it skimmed over his deck. But he did notice as the fuel burst into flames, instantly setting him alight. Ten Cents had just pulled up, and watched in horror as his old friend turned into a fireball.  
"SEA ROGUE!" The switcher cried. He turned to Junior, and tried to shout again, but was seriously out of breath from speeding towards the building. Thankfully, Big Mac took over.  
"You moron!" The harbour tug boomed. "Look what you did!"  
"I got rid of the bad guys, and that's all that matters!" Junior huffed, moving swiftly backwards to avoid the tugs.  
"But what if Sea Rogue was innocent?" Warrior added. He had seen the Fire Tug try and move forwards to the flaming friend, but fuel based fires were too intense, and it would take too long to bring it under control: time Sea Rogue wouldn't have.  
"He pushed Pearl to safety." Top Hatt added. Junior just shook his head and turned around.  
"I don't have time to deal with your consciences, just leave me be." He said, and moved off. Big Mac cursed, before looking at Ten Cents. The switcher's eyes were fixed on the slowly sinking Sea Rogue. All of the barges and cranes stared at him, and even the remaining Z-Stacks were shocked by the scene. There was silence except for the two sets of crackling flames, and the day to day sounds coming from the rest of the city.

_How could anyone else be working?_ Ten Cents thought. _Sea Rogue is dying, but they are still working. Why aren't they paying their respects? Why... _His thoughts were interrupted by a gasping sound, coming from amongst the flames.  
"He is still breathing!" Old Rusty gasped, before silence fell again, and everyone edged closer to listen, hoping to hear something else.  
"Go-go-good-goodbye." Sea Rogue spluttered. And that was that. The flames had swallowed up to much of the tugboat, and his deck had burnt away. His cab collapsed into his hull, upsetting the balance and causing what remained of Sea Rogue to capsize. Ten Cents watched as the flaming wreckage tipped over into the cold waters. The fire had burnt through to the bottom of the hull, and it would soon catch ablaze. But Ten Cents couldn't watch any longer, and moved towards Star Dock, sobbing. There was a tense silence, and no one dared say a thing or move.  
Beneath them all, Grampus watched as Sea Rogue's cab sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The midget sub recognized the eye patch, and was instantly filled with fury. But he knew that he would have to look for Johnny Cuba. He had eavesdropped on the interrogation of the shrimper back near the railway dock, and knew the way to the Coastal Crusaders dock. Grampus turned to avoid crashing into Zero Dock, and then sped off to save the day.

Hercules had been awake for over twelve hours, searching nearly every square inch of Bigg City. However, the ocean going tug had sometimes gone three days without sleep, and was managing to plough through. But the stress was getting to him, and Hercules had lost his general calm and smooth demean, instead snapping at Sunshine for talking too loudly, or making the waves move too much.  
"Will you stop being so noisy?" Hercules snapped, as they passed the mouth for Up River.  
"I DIDN'T make too much NOISE!" Sunshine fumed. He was sick of being shouted at, and was beginning to loose his temper. Hercules was stunned by the outburst, and couldn't help smiling.  
"Sorry darling, I've just been letting the stress get to me." He replied. Sunshine smiled as well, relieved after letting his stress get out as well.  
"It's alright, I under-" But Sunshine froze, as he looked ahead and saw two familiar black tugs moving rapidly forwards.  
"What is it?" A concerned Hercules asked.  
"Zip and Zug up ahead, moving really rapidly for a Z-Stack."  
"But the Z's are meant to be at their dock!"  
"I know that!" Sunshine said, a bit perplexed. The two began to move forwards, moving swiftly but silently through the calm waters. Zip and Zug were oblivious to the rest of the world, and Hercules could soon see why.  
"Burke and Blair are up ahead!" He exclaimed. "And they are moving quickly as well… they're all heading towards the Coastal Crusaders dock!" But in Hercules' excitement and relief, he had spoken a bit too loudly, and Zug turned around.  
"Oh no, not you two!" Zug snarled, and picked up speed. Zip turned, squealed, and rushed forwards as well.  
"Don't go too fast you idiots, Burke and Blair might hear you!" Hercules said.  
"Hmmm…. Good point there." Zug said, and slowed down. But Hercules and Sunshine went on either side, bumped the two together, and the two Stars tied themselves to the Z-Stacks.  
"Why are you following Burke and Blair?" Sunshine said.  
"N-n-n-no re-reason." Zip stuttered. Zug was going to remain silent, but Burke and Blair were getting closer to the burnt out dock, and if they want to find out what they were up to, it was best to bring Hercules and Sunshine along. Zug could always leave them to get blown up or shot as well, which was handy.  
"Alright alright!" Zug whispered. "We saw Burke and Blair talking to a dodgy shrimper yesterday, and we thought they might be plotting something. And just then, Pearl and I saw them rushing towards here, so thought it would be best to follow." Hercules looked across Zip to look at him, and pondered for a moment before nodding.  
"I suppose it makes sense." The ocean goer said. "Maybe Johnny Cuba or this 'dodgy shrimper' might be there as well. I think it would be best to approach cautiously and try and get a good view of what is happening." The three switchers nodded, and the tied up pack began to move forwards, keeping Burke and Blair in the line of eyesight all the time. This meant that no one noticed the navy blue figure speeding below them, heading in the same direction…

OJ hadn't spoken for nearly an hour, as he sat in the corner, staring towards Johnny Cuba and Gareth. The two were in deep discussion, and OJ heard them mention "Sea Rogue", "Q", "shrimpers" and "bomb" on several occasions. He didn't know who or what Q was, but didn't think it sounded very good. There was a noise outside, and Gareth peered through the door.  
"It looks like their here." The shrimper said.  
"Good, good." Johnny Cuba beamed, as he looked towards OJ. "Go and set up their barges, then bring in that weapon." Gareth nodded, and moved quickly through the doors.  
"Wh-wh-what's going on?" OJ said, stuttering slightly.  
"I said before I was going to blow you up." Cuba replied, moving slowly forwards. "And now is the appropriate time. I am sorry we didn't have more time together, I would have loved to be bored by your war stories." OJ growled and went to snap back, knowing that it didn't matter now wheter Cuba damaged him or not, when there was a cry from outside.  
"JOHNNY, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" The tram steamer turned around, and let out an agitated roar before heading straight through the doors to see what the matter was. OJ sighed with relief, and decided to edge forwards and see what was going on. But suddenly his glasses became covered with water.  
"What is this, who's there?" OJ cried in shock.  
"It's me OJ." A familiar voice said from below him, and OJ stopped wailing in shock.

"Grampus, is that you?"  
"Yes, it is me, and I've come to get you out of this warehouse." The submarine replied. "It was easy sneaking past, Hercules and Sunshine are out there and I think they've made those villains pretty angry…"

A few minutes before, Burke and Blair had begun to sneak in through the old docks. The burnt remains of buildings and charred piles of scrap scared the two tugboats, who had seen much worse in their days as scrap dealers. But what was mainly scaring them was what Johnny Cuba was going to do with them, and why he needed their oil covered barges.  
"I don't like this." Blair said.  
"Neither do I, but we have to keep going." Burke said nervously. "Cuba could hunt us down and kill us for betraying him!"  
"What makes you think he won't hunt us down anyway! He is nasty, and evil and-"  
"We're here." Burke said, cutting Blair off as they approached one of the slightly intact buildings. They could hear Johnny and Gareth talking, and were about to enter when something bumped the barge.  
"What is that?" Blair snapped.  
"Oh sorry, just a mistake." The two tugboats gasped as Zug appeared on one side, and Sunshine on the other. They moved so that they were in front of them, blocking their way ahead.  
"Bugger." Burke snapped, and went to turn around, but found Hercules right in front of him.  
"Hello there darlings." He said, before charging and smashing into the tugboat. Sunshine and Zug moved forwards, hoping to strike Blair, but the tugboat swung his barge, bashing Sunshine into Zip, and then into Gareth, who had frozen in shock at the surprise invasion.  
"JOHNNY, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" The shrimper yelled, as he was knocked into the dock.  
"Not Johnny Cuba!" Zug cried.  
"The very same." Gareth replied nastily, and charged forwards to tackle, but Sunshine pushed Zug out of the way just in time. Gareth ended up crashing right into Burke. Hercules swerved to avoid them, and expertly smashed into Blair's barge, pressing the tugboat up against the dock.  
"What role do you have in this?" Hercules sneered, but stopped as he saw Johnny Cuba come out of the shed and rush towards one of the other docks. "Someone hold onto this while I try and get that!"  
"I'll try!" Sunshine said, as bashed into one of the barges, copying Hercules' idea to try and trap Gareth and Burke. But Gareth smashed against the barge, pushing the switcher back.  
"It'll take more than that!" The shrimper smirked, as he sped away.  
"Don't hurt me!" Zip said, moving aside. Gareth sneered and raced out of the docks.  
"You let him leave, you moron!" Zug roared, as he helped Sunshine ram the barge to stop the Blair and Burke.  
"Why is he so strong?" Sunshine sighed.  
"No time to question that, I have to stop Cuba!" Hercules boomed, and he swerved and charged forwards. But he had barely passed the two when Johnny Cuba pulled out from behind another standing warehouse. A barge was tied to his side, and a familiar contraption was inside.  
"The bomb!" Hercules gasped.  
"That's right." Johnny said, as his eyes twitched slightly with rage. "In this barge is the one thing that will finally get rid of everyone who has wronged me!"  
"But there is only six of us here!" Zug said.  
"No, OJ is probably around here." Sunshine whispered.  
"And he wouldn't blow us up!" Blair insisted. "Right, boss…" Johnny looked down at them, before booming with laughter.  
"If I have to blow you up, than so be it!" He snarled. "I forced you into helping me, it doesn't mean I care for you. And you are right, switcher, OJ is inside the warehouse, and I would have left the bomb here and blown him up, but now you lot are here."  
"Even if you kill us, Cuba, we still have friends back in Bigg City!" Hercules snapped.  
"I wouldn't think so. I have had a number of bombs placed around the city, hoping to destroy as many of your friends and workmates as possible!" Johnny announced, causing a collective gasp. He smirked, and moved even closer to them. "Now, we are going to head towards the city, we are going to find a nice building, and I am going to leave you and detonate the bomb. But first, I need to collect OJ."  
"Don't worry, I've already done that for you." Johnny froze and turned around, his eyes bulging in shock and horror. Grampus and OJ were right behind him, though were several metres away. OJ winked towards a shocked Hercules, and then stared pointedly at Grampus' side. Hercules' got the connection, and began to move slowly backwards. Sunshine, Zug and Zip began to follow, and Burke and Blair slid out from the barges.  
"What are you doing here?" Johnny Cuba snarled.  
"Just helping out some friends." Grampus replied, as he shut his eyes and fired out two of his flares. Johnny watched the path of the two: one headed for the barges, while one headed straight for the bomb.  
"WHY YOU LITTLE MOTHER FU-" Johnny began to bellow, before the flare burst into flames and struck the bomb.  
The explosion tore him apart before he could finish his sentence.  
The powerful shockwave blasted apart half the dock nearby, along with the warehouse, and OJ and Grampus were forced backwards, as they were blinded by the orange flames.  
"Look at that!" Zip said in awe, as they all watched Johnny Cuba being blasted to smithereens.  
"GO ON AHEAD!" OJ yelled to Hercules. "THERE IS ANOTHER WAY OUT!"  
"OK, BE SAFE!" Hercules boomed, and he began to speed off. "Let's go make sure our friends are safe!"  
"Right away!" Sunshine said, and he followed alongside. Zug, Zip, Burke and Blair watched the carnage for a few more seconds, before turning and following ahead. And no one watched as the barges began to burn, and the last bits of the miserable old Australian tram steamer sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

It was an hour before OJ and Grampus were able to be freed. The Fire Tug and Warrior had come and helped calm the blaze. OJ and Grampus travelled home in peace, trying to take in what had happened, and what might have happened to their friends.  
But they were pleased by what they saw as they approached Star Dock: everyone was there, minus Warrior. The Z's were all there as well, and it seemed Captain Zero was temporarily at Star Dock.  
"Looks like they may have gotten a bit blasted." OJ said, smirking slightly, as they passed the burnt part of Zero Dock. Grampus smiled, and the two progressed into Star Dock.  
"Is everything alright back there?" Captain Starr asked.  
"Yes, everything is going great." Grampus replied.  
"Well not everything." Top Hatt said huffily, and OJ and Grampus exchanged looks.  
"Sea Rogue unfortunately perished earlier today." Captain Starr said solemnly, and OJ gasped, while Grampus' eyes bulged. "Yes, it is very tragic. And the navy was always successfully bombed, and Hermes told us a few minutes before your arrival that they severed a few casualties and lost one building. Thankfully, the shrimpers abandoned the barges, and they weren't in the right position when they went off. Also, another bomb was successfully prevented from doing any lasting damage to the railway docks." OJ and Grampus nodded, but the shock of Sea Rogue's death still hung in the air. There was silence, as everyone exchanged looks, wondering wheter they should say anything.  
"I think that we should have a slight toast." Captain Starr said. Everyone looked up at him.  
"What do you mean?" Captain Zero said.  
"I think that we should pay our respects to those who lost their lives today." Captain Starr replied. "We should give a hoot to Sea Rogue, for being a good friend to many of us. A hoot to the naval fleet, who have helped protect our lives, even if we usually fix their mistakes. And I think we deserve a hoot for Johnny Cuba: a reminder to us all never to undermine the villains that poison a town, and reminder just how great our fleets are." And with that, the tugboats all blew their hooters, while Old Rusty and Grampus smiled, and merely listened as their friends paid their respects. Ten Cents looked over towards the spot in Zero Dock which would soon be surrounded by salvage cranes, and blinked back tears and forced a smile.  
"Goodbye Sea Rogue, thanks for the time we spent together."


	17. Finale: Loyalty

Loyalty

In the two weeks since Johnny Cuba's demise, what had remained of winter had quickly disappeared. Temperatures were rising up into the tens, there was no longer any snow visible and the sea got much warmer in the mornings. The railway bridge was being repaired, the naval had done their test successfully and everything was back to normal. Morale in the city was high, and everyone from lowly shrimpers to mighty tram steamers were pleased with this.  
But none of these things could cheer up Ten Cents.  
The switcher had been struck the hardest by Sea Rogue's death, and had been depressed since then. The whole fleet had been given several days off after defeating Johnny Cuba, but Ten Cents had refused to work after then for nearly a week. Captain Starr had to have a harsh talk with him, and only then did Ten Cents reluctantly go back to work. Everyone had tried consoling him, but they only got ignored and eventually they all began to give up. Ten Cents was left to do simple jobs, like taking loads from one dock to the next. The tugs were afraid that if he didn't cheer up soon, Ten Cents would be stuck like this forever.

February 16th 1924

Hermes raced through the water, his propeller sending huge ripples behind him. The Coast Guard had always warned him that if he went too fast, he could have an accident, and Hermes was going well over the speed limit. But he had never been given such an important piece of information to relay, and Hermes presumed it would be allowed. He swerved away from a dock, rushed past an old schooner and sped underneath Sally as she took off. He cut his engine and skidded into Star Dock. No one noticed Hermes though as all eyes were on Captain Starr.  
"Today is the day we are helping out the Navy." The Captain was saying. "Hercules, Big Mac and Warrior will take Old Rusty and the supplies, and then- Oh hello Hermes, what brings you here?" Everyone then looked around at the speedboat, who quickly began to tell his facts.  
"The cruise ship Venice has sent a telegram urgently requesting help." Hermes said. "Sudden waves caused the ship to be pushed and smash into several rocks. There is minimal damage, but she needs repairs before it gets worse." Everyone except for Ten Cents began to talk about this information.  
"SILENCE!" Captain Starr boomed. "We have a contract with Venice that pays more than the naval contract. Hercules, Big Mac, Warrior and Top Hatt, you four will go out and take Venice to the cruise ship repair docks for urgent work."  
"What about the navy?" Warrior asked.  
"How cares about that lot." Top Hatt scoffed. "Old Bluenose can go float off a waterfall for all I care!"  
"Calm down Top Hatt!" Captain Starr warned. "Ten Cents, Sunshine and Grampus can take Old Rusty to the navy."  
"M-m-m-me sir?" Grampus stuttered. The midget submarine had not gone near the naval base since he had nearly been blown up, and didn't particularly want to go back.  
"I believe you would be suitable for pulling some barges." Captain Starr said.  
"But what about OJ?" Grampus said.  
"I need him to take up the workload inside the city while everyone else is busy." Captain Starr said. Grampus tried to think of something else to argue, but he failed miserably and looked down at the ocean, thinking sadly about the navy.  
"Unless anyone else has any complaints, head off for work!" Captain Starr said happily. "OJ, please go and take any empty barges from the railway dock and have them refilled with wood and supplies for the bridge. And all the naval supplies were sent to Lucky's Yard for our convenience." Everyone nodded and began to head off, but Ten Cents didn't budge. Sunshine was tying up to Old Rusty when he realised his friend hadn't moved.  
"Come on Ten Cents, don't you want to get this job out of the way?" The switcher said brightly. Ten Cents simply looked at him darkly.  
"I don't want to go. Junior was involved in Sea Rogue's death; I don't want to see him." He hissed. Sunshine, Old Rusty and Grampus all exchanged looks of worry and concern.  
"Can you please just pull some barges Ten Cents?" Old Rusty asked. "I can't carry all the loads on my own."  
"Besides, you don't even have to come in, you could head back afterwards." Sunshine suggested. Ten Cents let out a deep sigh and began to move forwards.  
"Let's just get this down, quickly." He snapped, and moved towards Lucky's Yard. The other three simply sighed and followed behind him without a word.

The Bigg City Naval Base and Reserve was close to the surrounding cliffs and forests of Bigg City. It was hidden from private eye by high stone breakwaters with trees on them. As the Star Tugs approached the expansive area, they saw three naval speedboats and two harbour tugs watch them from certain points around the breakwaters, each one equipped with a gun barge. At the entrance, an aging harbour tug stood there, looking very grand.  
"What is your purpose?" He boomed, causing the Stars to stop in surprise.  
"We're bringing some supplies in to fix up after the bombing." Sunshine explained.  
"We've been waiting, come in." The harbour tug said, and moved aside so they could pass. They all mumbled thanks except for Ten Cents and entered.

Before the bomb, the reserve had been fairly simple. There were four small grey warehouses were the tugs, speedboats and tram steamers lived, along with one for weaponry, one for barges, and one were the large warship Aquarius was stored. There was also a blue, two storey administration building with several blue megaphones alongside, and a small dock which had railway tracks and two small cranes.  
But that had all changed. The bomb had destroyed half of the dock, two of the warehouses and the majority of the administration building, destroying half the speedboats and a third of the tugs. Other warehouses had been damaged minimally but the navy was still unimpressed. The Stars had to bring in bricks, wood, paint, corrugated iron, railway tracks and parts for the new cranes. There was a lot to be done, and the Stars were hoping to get it out of the way.  
Inside the spacious field of water, Bluenose and Junior were side-by-side, with five submarines in front of them: Pacifica, Atlantic, Indiana, Southren and Arctic. These five were the main submarines of this branch of the navy, and they did lots of reconnaissance work, travelling all over the oceans they were named after. They were back in Bigg City for their bi-annual tests to ensure they were in perfect working order.  
"Today you will be put to a number of tests. Mainly, these will test your speed, aim and how far you can descend." Bluenose was saying. He heard the water swishing behind him and turned around. The submarines all looked around as well, and Pacifica, the darkest painted submarine, muttered something to the others, who all laughed and stared pointedly at Grampus.  
"Hello there Stars, what exactly are you doing here?" Bluenose huffed.  
"We're here to bring your supplies." Old Rusty explained. There was silence, and then Bluenose burst out laughing. Junior forced out laughter, and the submarines did the same. Old Rusty seemed appalled by this cruel laughter, but Sunshine and Grampus had come to expect and accept it.  
"I was told that Hercules, Big Mac and the Dunce would be bringing the supplies." Bluenose said once he had gotten control of himself.  
"They had to go and deal with a cruise ship." Grampus explained.  
"And they just abandoned their work with the navy?" Bluenose said angrily.  
"Disgraceful!" Indiana proclaimed.  
"Absolutely horrible!" Southren added.  
"They should be punished severely!" Atlantic boomed.  
"And they will be." Bluenose said, and looked back at the Stars. "Take your first load of barges over to the docks and start unloading." Sunshine nodded, and the four all began to move forwards. But as they passed, Junior realised something and turned excitedly towards Bluenose.  
"They didn't bring a crane with them!" The speedboat said happily, and the submarines all chuckled in their booming voices. Sunshine, Grampus and Old Rusty froze and gasped at their stupidity in missing this major thing. But Ten Cents turned angrily towards Junior and sped forwards. Junior squeaked and tried to move away, but Ten Cents got up into his face faster.  
"I didn't see any cranes on our way here." Ten Cents said angrily. "Maybe they are all at the bottom of the ocean with Sea Rogue? Maybe they all got shot and sank? Maybe you are just such a vile, worthless machine that-"  
"CUT THAT OUT!" Bluenose boomed, and moved forwards so that Junior could duck behind him. Everyone in the area was staring at Ten Cents with great shock, but the switcher merely smirked and backed away. A smile was on his face for the first time in weeks, and he looked brightly over at Sunshine.  
"I'll just go and fetch a crane then, shall I?" He said, and turned and headed towards the entrance. All the naval boats and submarines were stunned, but Sunshine, Grampus and Old Rusty were trying hard not laugh.  
"That is the funniest thing to ever happen in the navy." Grampus mumbled. He couldn't contain his laughter anymore and descended, his laughter rising up as bubbles. Sunshine and Old Rusty laughed as well and headed towards the damaged dock, angry scowls coming their way from Bluenose.  
"At least he isn't moody anymore." Sunshine said, and Old Rusty nodded in agreement. It seemed that their horrible job wouldn't be so bad after all.

Now that Bigg City had gotten back into its usual routine, OJ found the journey towards the railway yard rather quiet. He could hear steam engines rattling in over their rails in the distance, and the sloshing of the water behind him, but no gunshots, explosions or shouts of terror. The most exciting thing that OJ heard or saw was a speedboat narrowly avoiding hitting a barge. OJ watched the speedboat and the tugboat pulling the barge sort things out and sighed. The paddle tug was getting old: his paddles ached, his hull felt bruised and he wasn't building up the proper steam. OJ had always been a relatively simple, peaceful tugboat, but he enjoyed being able to do grand jobs. He enjoyed pulling in cruise ships, he enjoyed helping to win contracts and outsmart the Z-Stacks, and he mostly loved all of their clients. But OJ didn't enjoy being shafted asides for small work and giving all his favourite jobs to his younger friends. As he neared the railway dock, OJ put the bad thoughts out of his mind and put on a smile.  
"Can't be sad, everyone will start questioning me." He muttered to himself. He peered around the spacious dock and hooted to the familiar faces. Puffa and Huffa were on the docks having their trucks loaded up, and Archer was nearby as well, several barges tied around here.  
"Hello there OJ." Archer said brightly.  
"Hello Archer. Is Admiral not back yet?" OJ asked.  
"He came back two days ago, but is still resting so I brought some barges along to collect our fruit supplies." Archer explained. OJ nodded and looked around for the empty barges.  
'They are by the bridge." Puffa pointed out.  
"Ah yes, I can see them now, thank you." OJ said and moved towards them. The bridge had had its supports repaired, and several cranes were lowering in the sections the tracks would run along. OJ took his time tying himself to them, his thoughts unfortunately drifting back towards his sadness. Once the paddle tug had finished tying himself off, he turned around and began to head off.  
"Don't we get a goodbye?" Huffa yelled. OJ froze and looked over.  
"Sorry, I am bit distracted this morning." OJ called back.  
"That's pretty obvious." Puffa said. "Look at the barges: you left two behind and the others are tied loosely." OJ gasped and looked around, confirming that he had made this mistake. He mumbled to himself and rushed towards them.  
"Poor OJ, he is losing his marbles." Puffa muttered.  
"I'll go and see if he is alright." Archer said.  
"Good idea." Huffa nodded, and Archer quickly moved away.  
But the switcher had other motives for approaching OJ.  
Archer had been having lots of troubles with her conscience lately. There had been rumours that Burke and Blair had been involved in the Johnny Cuba incident, but as there was no actual proof aside from Scuttlebutt Pete's gossip, the Coast Guard hadn't arrested them. But Archer had, of course, seen the two with the mysterious shrimpers, and she had heard from many boats that shrimpers had been involved in the bomb planting. Archer wanted to come forwards, but she didn't want to go to the police unless she absolutely had to. She and Admiral didn't have the best history when it came to coast guards and police, and Archer knew their record would be brought up if they reported any information. She loved her new life here, and couldn't let that stop her. But Archer had also heard from other boats that Burke and Blair were always trying to scrap OJ. This meant the old paddle tug would be more than willing to help take the two down.  
"Oh hello Archer, I didn't see you approaching." OJ chuckled. But his smile faded as she saw the serious look on her face. "What is it, has something bad happened?"  
"I'll help you take those to the yard." Archer said. "I need to discuss an idea I had with you."

It had been nearly a month since Venice had last visited Bigg City, and it was a month too soon for Lillie.  
"Why does that obnoxious cow have to come back?" The lightship fumed to Hercules, causing the ocean goer to laugh.  
"She is in danger of sinking darling, I have already explained that." He said.  
"Good riddance!" Lillie snorted.  
"Do you think her passengers should drown as well, just because she was a bit rude to you?" Hercules said, peering over his glasses. Lillie gasped and suddenly felt very guilty, and stared down towards the ocean. Hercules smiled and nudged her affectionately, but was interrupted as Top Hatt, Big Mac and Warrior pulled up alongside.  
"The cruise ship docks have been cleared and Chuffa II is bringing the engineers." Top Hatt said.  
"Excellent." Hercules said happily. "Now all we have to do is wait until she is close enough." Everyone nodded and stared out towards the ocean. They could make out a speck coming closer and closer, but Hercules wouldn't go and assist her coming in just yet. Lillie simply sat their scowling, while the tugs all waited in anticipation. After about five minutes, a loud horn boomed, followed by two more.  
"That's her alright, and she must be stressed." Big Mac said.  
"Be ready to start towing as soon as we get here." Hercules said. "I'll blow my hooter three times rapidly if there is a major problem."

"Got it boss." Warrior said happily, and Hercules blew his hooter in farewell before racing as fast as possible towards the cruise ship. Lillie watched him go with a sad sigh, and the others moved around so that they would be in the right positions to tie on.  
As everyone's eyes were focused upon the incoming cruise ship, no one was noticing what was happening behind them. Behind the sand dunes were one of their plans had been foiled weeks ago, Zorran, Zebedee and Zak peered over at the Stars. Zorran and Zak were greedily staring over at them, silently thinking of a plan, while Zebedee floated behind them, rather bored with the proceedings. He would have been doing a simple scrap collection job right now if Captain Zero hadn't overheard Hermes that morning. Now he was going to be stuck behind the sandbanks for the rest of the day.  
"Why are we even trying to take this one again?" Zebedee said.  
"That's rather weak talk there, Zebedee!" Zak sneered. Zebedee rolled his eyes and backed away, but Zorran turned around.  
"Why are you getting weak on us?" Zorran snapped.  
"I just don't like how we, instead of running our current contracts, focus on trying to steal the Stars all the time and practically always fail!" Zebedee growled back. Zorran blew his hooter angrily and advanced towards his team mate, stopping only a few feet away.  
"Venice is injured and we can easily exploit that and blame the Stars." Zorran snapped. "I can guarantee that this one will go in our favour. Now, if you don't shut up, I'll shove you up onto a sand bank!" Zebedee nodded, but he remained away from the other two as Zorran went back into position. Big Mac was looking curiously around for the source of the hooter, but wasn't guessing it was them. Zorran looked over at the incoming cruise ship, and then his eyes lit up and he looked back at the city. Zak noticed his boss's hat fly up, and turned to look at him.  
"What are you thinking?" Zak asked, and Zorran looked at him, a wicked smile upon his face.  
"I am thinking I know just how to end this spectacularly."

While Ten Cents went to collect a crane, Sunshine, Grampus and Old Rusty couldn't do much. Sunshine towed Old Rusty into an appropriate position, and then helped Grampus tow barges to where they should be. This would make things go quicker when they began to unload. After that was sorted, Grampus chatted to several old friends, Old Rusty reminisced about the navy, while Sunshine pretended to listen as he watched the submarines. The switcher had met a lot of the navy over his few years at Bigg City, but had not come across the submarines except for seeing Arctic submerging once. They all seemed very unpleasant, and acted cold and bitter towards everyone else. Even Bluenose seemed to get a bit nervous if one of them looked at him funny, and Sunshine didn't think that he should be running the test. All five of the submarines kept staring over at Grampus, especially Pacifica. Grampus didn't notice as he talked to the other midget submarines and naval tugboats, but Sunshine was feeling a bit worried by their nasty looks.  
"Old Rusty, do you know much about submarines?" Sunshine said, looking up at the tram steamer. He hadn't realised he was in the middle of a story, and Old Rusty looked very upset.  
"I was just getting to the thrilling conclusion!" He huffed, but let out a sigh and nodded. "Yes, I did know a few in my time."  
"Were they all a bit, um, nasty?" Sunshine asked, looking pointedly over at the submarines in front of them.  
"Oh yes, they can get a bit nasty." Old Rusty said quietly. "They don't have very good social skills after spending all that time underwater, with no friends to keep them company. They stick together in their packs and act hostile towards other."  
"What about Grampus, he was always friendly."  
"Midget submarines are different: they only do small jobs inside harbours, occasionally going to other nearby ports." Old Rusty explained. "They surface more often and meet more boats, so they are much friendlier." Sunshine nodded and went to ask another question, but he felt eyes on the back of his cab, and peered over to see Indiana and Southren staring towards him. Sunshine was saved by Ten Cents return, who blew his hooter happily as he tugged Little Ditcher in. Bluenose and the submarines stared towards him, while Junior scampered to hide by Aquarius' shed. Grampus bid farewell to his friends and rushed over towards the others.  
"Hello everyone." Little Ditcher said, waving his hook in greeting. "Where should I start?"  
"I think that getting this dock fixed would be the highest priority." Ten Cents said.  
"That dock has been here since before my time, and it has always been a busy place." Old Rusty said. Little Ditcher seemed to find this acceptable, and Sunshine showed him and Ten Cents where the right barges were.  
"Oi midget!" Grampus looked around, and found Pacifica very close to his face. He laughed loudly and cruelly at Grampus turning around, and he moved even closer. "I haven't seen you around here lately, I thought they'd sunk ya!" Grampus was intimidated, but couldn't let it show.  
"Well I obviously haven't been sunk, so you obviously heard wrong." He retorted.  
"Don't try and be smart with me, midget!" Pacifica snarled. "I could blow you into a million pieces before you can even blink! And what can you do, set a flare up in my face?" And Pacifica laughed at this, and the other submarines had overheard and laughed as well. Grampus tried to think of a comeback, but was saved by Bluenose, who blew his hooter loudly.  
"SUBMARINES, we have a very important job to do, so will you please follow me?" The harbour tug huffed, disgusted by the lack of order. The submarines all muttered curses and insults as they turned to follow him, but Pacifica continued to stare at Grampus.  
"See you around, midget." He snapped, and followed after his siblings. Grampus watched him leave, before shutting his eyes and turning away. Old Rusty could see his sadness, but couldn't move to consult him.  
"It'll be alright." The tram steamer said, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. Grampus looked up at him and sniffed.  
"You don't know submarines like I do." He said, and descended below the water. Old Rusty watched the ripples, trying to think of something helpful to yell out. But he realised Grampus needed some space to himself, and looked towards the others, leaving Grampus in peace.

Archer hadn't been sure how OJ would have reacted when she decided to tell him, but wasn't expecting the paddle tug to freeze in his tracks, right between two buildings.  
"Are you alright?" Archer asked nervously, not sure what OJ would do. OJ looked towards Archer, his eyes bulging in shock.  
"How can you expect me to help you bring down those two?" He said. "They've wanted to scrap me ever since they set eyes upon me!"  
"Then this is your perfect opportunity to get revenge." Archer said. "You could have been sunk by Johnny Cuba, and it was partially their fault." OJ gasped and fell silent. He had been trying to forget about his traumatic kidnapping, but it was now all flooding back to him: the cold, dark warehouse, Johnny Cuba's evil laugh, Gareth's wicked smirk. Archer realised she had touched a sore spot and felt guilty.  
"I am sorry for bringing that up." She whispered. "But I need your expertise and skills to help take them down. They practically sold out this entire city when they made their deal with Q, and-"  
"That's another thing, why haven't you gone to the police yet?" OJ growled. This time Archer froze, but her eyes didn't meet OJ's.

"I have my reasons, and they are too complicated to explain."  
"I can't work with someone that doesn't trust me enough, even if they did save my life!" OJ said. Archer went to reply, but suddenly the Fire Tug appeared at the end of the alleyway.  
"OJ, you are needed Up River." The tug boomed.  
"What has happened?" OJ said, taking the opportunity to get away from Archer.  
"One of Lord Lucky's passengers dropped a cigarette into a pot plant. It caught on fire and spread without any noticing." The Fire Tug explained. "It turned into a blaze when it hit the passenger's luggage. I just put it out, and they need you to tow him to Lucky's Yard for emergency repairs."

"I'll be on my way after I drop these off. Can you tell the bridge crew I'll be back later?" The Fire Tug nodded and headed off. OJ moved after him, but Archer raced alongside.  
"Will you at least think about it?" She asked desperately. OJ glanced at her for a moment, before racing out of the alleyway. Archer sighed and went off in the opposite direction. She didn't notice Zip and Zug at the other end of the alleyway, exchanging looks of delight.

After nearly forty five minutes, Hercules arrived back with a distressed Venice following him in.  
"It was just so frightening Hercules!" Venice was saying, her Italian accent getting thicker and thicker as she got more and more distressed. "These waves just suddenly appeared. The whole ocean was shaking, and there was no explanation!"  
"It's alright darling, you are in a safer territory now." Hercules called up. Big Mac, Warrior and Top Hatt moved out to help her.  
"Is she alright?" Warrior asked.  
"Does she sound alright?" Top Hatt scoffed. Hercules gave him a look to make him be quiet, and then began to talk in a low voice.  
"The leak in Venice is much more serious than Hermes said." Hercules whispered. "When I was tying up to here, I looked at the hole and realised it is breaking up."  
"How serious is it?" Big Mac inquired.  
"If she isn't docked and repaired soon, then it will be the size of my cab soon." Hercules said seriously. "And it will soon expand to about the length of a switcher." Everyone was surprised at this, but Venice realised no one was listening to her story and was getting worried.  
"What is going on?" She called.  
"We are just sorting out our positions." Hercules yelled back. Everyone took this as a sign, and they moved off: Big Mac taking the front with Hercules, Top Hat and Warrior on either side behind them. Top Hatt eyed the hole suspiciously through his monocle, and realised it was getting bigger quicker. It took a minute for the three tugs to tie themselves up, and Venice got very desperate and wailed on several occasions.  
"If everyone is ready, than let's go!" Hercules boomed, and the Stars surged forwards. They focused on the path ahead of them, ignoring anything else and charging into port limits. Lillie smiled at them as they passed, but they didn't notice her, or the three silhouettes following them from behind the sandbanks.

Ten Cents, Sunshine, Grampus, Little Ditcher and Old Rusty were hard at work, making sure that there would be no reason for Bluenose to snap at them. Little Ditcher quickly but carefully placed the loads in their right spots, making sure nothing spilled over. As soon as one barge was empty, Grampus or Ten Cents would move it to the side by the administration building, while Sunshine brought the next one over or moved Little Ditcher. Old Rusty had been unloaded first, and was no moored to an area of the dock, waiting for the others.  
After half an hour of work, all of the dock supplies were unloaded, and Little Ditcher had nearly finished heaving the corrugated iron for the warehouses onto dry dock. Everyone was waiting for the next barge switch, and no one noticed the submarines returning. They were talking loudly to each other, trying to attract attention with insults and slandering. But none of the naval boats were paying any attention to them. Bluenose and Junior rushed in behind them, trying to talk over their comments.  
"You have all passed the first lot of tests." Bluenose called. "You are allowed a fifteen minute break before we move onto the weaponry based portion." But it seemed that only Junior could hear him over the shouts of the submarines.  
"Rowdy bunch." Little Ditcher sighed.  
"They have been louder than that before." Grampus sighed.  
"How is that possible?" Ten Cents smirked. However, they were unaware that the submarines could hear them, and their shouting began to die down.

"How dare that switcher insult us?" Atlantic fumed.  
"It is an absolute disgrace, those filthy city goers waltzing in here and mocking our social attitude!" Arctic added, to gurgled mumblings. Pacifica was eyeing towards them, his big, goggled eyes focusing entirely on Grampus and Little Ditcher.  
"I have an idea." He smirked. "If old Bluenose wants to test our weaponry, he is about to get an unexpected showcase." The other submarines were curious, but gasped in shock as Pacifica opened up his torpedo holds. Southren rushed forwards to stop him, but smacked into Indiana, who cried out. Several heads turned, and they all gasped and cried out in shock. Old Rusty could see and recognise the torpedo, and he pulled at his moorings. The ropes had been done tightly, but the wooden pole had been damaged by the bomb, and it snapped easily.  
"WATCH OUT!" He boomed. The other Stars and Little Ditcher turned, and then saw Pacifica's wicked smile as he aimed at them.  
"Move Move MOVE!" Ten Cents said, and pulled them. Pacifica laughed and fired: one small grey rocket sped through the air at lightning speed. Grampus dived underwater, and Ten Cents and Sunshine dragged Little Ditcher and the barge out of the way. The torpedo hit the corner of the warehouse and exploded into a ball of orange, yellow and grey, the shockwave sending everyone flying.  
"PACIFICA!" Bluenose roared. Pacifica was grinning and turning, aiming towards the retreating Stars. But his siblings all opened up their torpedo holds as well, and two dozen tugboats and speedboats rushed forwards with gun barges. The warehouse had been a storage facility, and thankfully it had already been damaged by the bomb. The torpedo had simply destroyed a small section, though the roof was now in danger of collapsing.  
"I didn't do anything wrong, I was just teaching the vermin a lesson." Pacifica snarled, and pointed his torpedos towards the dock. Sunshine and Little Ditcher cowered, but suddenly Old Rusty barged through. There was a loud clang, and two small guns opened up from the tram steamer's sides.  
"Oh my goodness!" Grampus gasped.  
"I didn't know you had guns!" Ten Cents cried.  
"Captain Starr had my old protection ones from the navy restored after Johnny Cuba." Old Rusty replied. "He didn't want any of his team to fall into this sort of danger again." He added foully, and stared angrily down at Pacifica. The submarine had realised he was at fault, and watched as his siblings enclosed, him, with the naval boats taking up defensive positions behind.  
"Pacifica, if you just stand down, we can sort this out diplomatically." Bluenose said. Pacifica snorted loudly and stared at the tugboat.  
"Not bloody likely!" He snarled, and fired a second torpedo before descending. Unfortunately, the rocket smashed into Southren's face, blowing the front halve of his body to pieces. The other three submarines descended to chase after him, while the naval boats all fired their guns into the water. Southren began to sink to the bottom of the harbour, right in front of Bluenose and Junior.  
"Get into the dock, there is going to be chaos." Old Rusty said, and nudged the four behind him. The tugboats and speedboats began to blabber, some heading randomly out to sea, others screaming and moving like mad men. Bluenose boomed orders, but no one heard him.  
"SIIIIIII-LEEEEEENCEEEEE!" A loud, thundering boom roared. Everyone froze and stared towards Aquarius' shed. The roof tiles and the wooden doors were still shaking from the war ships cry.  
"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR CHAOS!" Aquarius yelled. "THE NAVAL COMMANDER IS OUT AT THE TIME BEING, SO BLUENOSE IS IN CHARGE. LISTEN TO HIS ORDERS AND **CALM DOWN.**" Dozens of boats shivered as the speech ended, but no one spoke a word.  
"Come over here for jobs!" Junior said after a few minutes, and the tugs and speedboats slowly made their way over.  
"Well that was interesting." Sunshine said, and the Stars and Little Ditcher chuckled. Old Rusty moved aside to let them out, and the entire navy froze as the tram steamer brought his guns back with a clang.

Lord Lucky had not been inside the actual port for many years, and was intrigued by all the different sounds and smells as OJ towed the steamship towards Lucky's Yard.  
"It's a lot noisier here than it is Up River." Lord Lucky said in his thick Irish accent. "And it smells like petrol and garbage."  
"That hardly surprises me, we just passed the garbage dump." OJ laughed, and Lord Lucky chortled.  
"I hope they get someone to do my runs for me while I am away." He said. "I wouldn't want my passengers to go without."

"One of the steam engines will probably do some work." OJ suggested.  
"I would prefer if it was a boat. Steam engines steal away my passengers, and I don't want to be out of work." Lord Lucky said sadly. OJ was unaware of this, and went to say something supportive when he saw Archer and Admiral up ahead. OJ and Archer's eyes briefly met, before OJ turned away.  
"We are nearly there, but let's try a shortcut." The paddle tug suggested, and veered off down a different path. Archer cursed under her breath, and continued to tow Admiral.  
"Try again in a few days, leave him to calm down." Admiral suggested. He was grumpy about being taken out to collect the fruit Archer had forgotten, and didn't want to have to put up with her moody attitude.  
"It isn't about him calming down, it is about him trusting us!" Archer huffed as she headed down a canal. "He thinks that we should have gone to the police, but he doesn't understand our situation!"  
"How are we meant to get him to trust us?" Admiral asked.  
"I have just the idea!" Archer came to a halt, causing Admiral to bump into her. But neither of them noticed as Zug and Zip appeared from behind a dock, grinning broadly.  
"Shove over you scum." Archer huffed.  
"No need for rudeness!" Zug said. "Just hear me out, one switcher to another." Archer and Admiral exchanged looks.  
"You have one minute." Archer snapped. Zug smiled at Zip before continuing.  
"We also saw Blair and Burke talking to the suspicious shrimper, and we also saw the scrap dealers heading to the old Coastal Crusaders dock."  
"That was Cuba got killed." Archer gasped.

"That's right, they were bringing scrap to be used to help burn the docks down." Zug said. "We can't go to the cops because those two are sadly our major client, but us two would gladly help you bring them down."  
"How exactly?" Archer asked suspiciously.  
"We may be the lowest of the Z-Stacks, but we do know what they are up to." Zug said.  
"They are going to destroy that cruise ship." Zip said, and Zug had to shush him. Archer and Admiral were shocked, and Zug moved even closer.  
"If you want to get OJ to trust you, you'd better go save that cruise ship." Archer nodded, and sped off to see what was going on.

It was taking a while to get the cruise ship in, but Venice was enjoying the company and didn't notice. But the Stars weren't enjoying themselves as much. Venice was starting to tilt to the side a bit, making it hard for Big Mac and Warrior to control her on the other side. And she was unintentionally going slower and slower.  
"If don't get to dry dock within the next ten minutes, she could soon begin to capsize!" Big Mac whispered to Hercules.  
"You don't think I haven't already noticed that one, _darling_?" Hercules said through clenched teeth. His glasses were askew and his eyes burned with determination. They could make out the cruise ship dock in the distance. A single railway line had been put on the dock, making it easier for people to travel from one place to the next. Chuffa II sat there, shimmering quietly and puffing smoke into the air.  
"We're almost home boys!" Big Mac roared, and Warrior cheered loudly.  
To the side of this canal, Scuttlebutt Pete was watching the scene quietly. He was dredging in the area, but had no one to talk to or move him, so he remained still.  
"Keep up the good work!" He yelled as the tugs approached him. Top Hatt blew his hooter in thanks, but they were too busy to work to have a shouting conversation. Scuttlebutt sighed and continued to dredge. He heard water moving behind him, and turned around curiously to see what was happening. Suddenly, five barges fill of coal were rammed into him, the shadows of office building near him masking the assailant.  
"Stop this at once!" Scuttlebutt exclaimed, and tried to turn, but the barges were forcing him out into open waters. Hercules could see him coming, and blew his hooter angrily.  
"SCUTTLEBUTT, MOVE!" He roared.  
"HOW?" Scuttlebutt yelled back, before slowly coming to a stop: right in the middle of the channel.  
Back in the shadows, Zorran and Zak laughed to themselves, pleased with how their plan was going.  
"Are you ready?" Zorran asked.  
"Yes." Zak replied, and he moved slightly forwards. He breathed in, held for a few seconds, and then let out a big puff from his funnel. Filthy black smoke rose up, sending sparks flying. The wind blew one several metres away, and it landed on the closet coal barge. The black minerals burst into flames, and the Stars all yelled out. They were heading straight for it, and there was no way around. All of a sudden, Archer and Admiral appeared in the distance. Archer was going as fast as possible, with Admiral being wildly thrown around behind her.  
"Don't worry, I'll save you!" She screamed, blowing her hooter furiously.  
"There isn't any time!" Top Hatt gasped. Hercules and Big Mac exchanged looks: if they stopped or even slowed down, Venice would take on more water. But if they kept going ahead, they would have to pull off an impossible swerve, and any one of them could get damaged.  
"What is going on?" Venice yelled.  
"We're going to hit it!" Warrior yelled. Archer and Admiral could both see that there was little chance of making it in time.  
"I am pulling myself free Archer, my weight is dragging you behind." Admiral said.  
"You can't!" Archer said, but Admiral was pulling behind her. Suddenly, Archer had a brilliant idea. She came to a halt and spun around, causing the speeding Admiral to be pulled with her. The tram steamer yelled out as he was spun, and his stern smashed into the coal barges. Zorran and Zak growled as Admiral pushed the barges to the side, giving more room in the canal.  
"We did it!" Archer yelled happily.  
"Move to the left!" Hercules said, and he and Top Hatt pulled Venice over. There was a cracking sound, and Venice let out a cry of pain. Top Hatt looked over and gasped.  
"Hercules, we have a problem." The railway tug said. The swift moment had caused Venice's cracking hull to become damaged: a big piece had broken off, and now more water was gushing in. Hercules looked around and gasped as well.  
"Move quickly, she is taking on more water!" Hercules cried. Venice heard it and let out a wail, and began to squirm.  
"What do you mean more water, why haven't I been docked yet, CAN'T YOU GO FASTER?" She screeched. Zorran and Zak felt happier as Venice's wailing and shaking damaged her hull more.  
"Wait until they are nearer to the dock, then we strike." Zorran whispered. Zak nodded, and the two waited to act. Archer watched what was happening, while Admiral untied himself and the coal barges burned. Warrior looked over at Archer desperately.  
"Help us!" He called. Archer was surprised, but Admiral nudged her forwards.  
"It's the only way to earn OJ's trust." The tram steamer said, and pushed her forwards. Archer nodded and raced over behind Warrior.  
"Need an extra hand?" She called, and hurriedly tied herself up using a loose rope. Big Mac blew his hooter in thanks, and the five tugs moved quickly to tow Venice towards the cruise ship dock. They passed the last of the buildings, giving them open waters towards the docks. Chuffa II blew his hooter to cheer them on, and Admiral followed behind in case they needed help.  
"Nearly there darlings, nearly there!" Hercules said.  
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Venice whimpered, and she shook some more. The tugboats struggled to keep her under control, but their ropes were coming loose from all her shaking. All five struggled onwards, and they could soon make out individual bricks on the dock, and see each of Chuffa II's wheels.  
"Now!" Zorran hissed, and he raced out from their hiding place. Scuttlebutt cried out, and Admiral turned around as Zak followed after.  
"STOP!" The tram steamer yelled.  
"Make us." Zak snapped, and the two Z's slammed into him. Admiral hit Venice's stern, narrowly avoiding her rudder. But the cruise ship felt the pain and wailed.  
"Why is this all happening to ME?" She cried, and let out a horn wail of distress. She shook, and suddenly Top Hatt's rope broke.  
"There's no control on this side!" He yelled. Hercules turned to examine, and his rope snapped as well. Big Mac, Warrior and Archer began to accidentally pull Venice towards them, and only the water in her hull stopped her tipping. But she was on a collision course towards the dock.  
"BUGGER!" Chuffa II wailed, and wheeshed steam and began to move.  
"ABANDON SHIP!" Big Mac yelled, and the three tugs pulled their ropes free. Venice screamed as her bow drove through the dock, and she carried on moving. Everyone watched in horror as the first quarter of Venice's hull ended up destroyed, the cruise ship perched on the dock.  
"Oops." Zorran sneered, and he and Zak turned and fled.  
"ZORRAN!" Top Hatt yelled, and he and Warrior chased after.  
In the distance, OJ rushed forwards, followed closely by Zug and Zip. Zebedee was watching from the edge of a canal, and OJ stopped alongside. He looked at Venice and let out a gasp.  
"Sorry to disappoint you three." Zebedee sighed. "But it looks like you just missed the show." The four all looked at Venice, who let out continuous wails through her horn.

"Sounds like Venice just docked." Sunshine said, as the sounds of foghorns reached the naval base. Little Ditcher had just unloaded the last supplies, and now an empty line of barges were tied between Ten Cents and Sunshine, with a rope between Grampus and Old Rusty. Sunshine finished tying Little Ditcher to himself, and then the pack moved forwards. The reserve was empty, and it felt eerie leaving.  
"That Venice sure loves to use her horn." Old Rusty growled, as more horn blasts sounded in the distance.  
"Leave her to it, she's had a rough day." Ten Cents said. Suddenly, Bluenose appeared at the entrance. Everyone froze, and a lot of tension suddenly appeared.  
"Good work today." Bluenose said quietly.  
"What was that?" Grampus said brightly, causing the others to smirk.  
"Good work today." Bluenose said a bit louder.  
"Cheers." Ten Cents said, and they began to move forwards, forcing Bluenose to let them pass.  
"Wait…" He said, and they all froze again. "Grampus and Old Rusty, we are a bit short staffed at the moment, and you both showed courage by standing up to Pacifica in your own ways. Would you like to return to the navy?" Grampus and Old Rusty were stunned, but exchanged looks with each other before roaring with laughter.  
"Not in your wildest dreams." Old Rusty scoffed.  
"We are loyal to one team, and they are stronger, braver and friendlier than you lot will ever be!" Grampus snapped, and they all moved off again, leaving Bluenose at a loss for words.  
"Thanks for that." Sunshine smiled.  
"Any time." Grampus nodded.  
"We have to go and return these barges and collect Pearl and a fuel barge." Ten Cents said. "Can you guys wait for us here?"  
"Of course." Old Rusty said. Ten Cents and Sunshine smiled, and they headed off towards the city, while their true friends waited behind.

A number of tugs, cranes, barges, tram steamers, schooners, shrimpers, speedboats and steam engines arrived into the harbour. The waters around the dock were soon crowded, and it was a struggle trying to get Venice's rescue operation under way. Barges were placed in appropriate places, and the Fire Tug, his team, Hercules, Big Mac, Warrior, Top Hatt, Admiral, Zebedee and other boats were tied up, preparing to heave her onto the barges. OJ was too old to be of any use, and he watched from a distance. Zip and Zug were jabbering behind him, but the paddle tug was by himself, trying to block out his kidnapping.  
"Hey there." OJ looked up, and found Archer smiling warmly at him.  
"Hello." He said, before an awkward silence. "Zebedee told me how you saved the day and helped out."  
"I did what I had to do." Archer replied simply, but was waiting for what she was hoping he would say. But OJ simply stared out into the crowd, his eyes narrowing. Archer realised he was looking at someone, and examined the crowd as well. Burke and Blair were in the distance, obviously discussing scrapping the cruise ship. Archer could feel the hatred emitting from OJ, and knew he wouldn't turn her down know.  
"I will help you in whatever way possible." OJ whispered. "But as long as you can guarantee they will go down."  
"I promise." Archer said softly. She looked over at Zug and winked at him, and he nodded back at her.  
"CLEAR THE AREA, CLEAR THE AREA!" There were numerous curious mumblings, and over a hundred sets of eyes looked to the skies. Sally Seaplane was flying frantically, shouting the same three words over and over. She dived downwards, and boats moved asides to give her a water runway.  
"Sally, what's going on?" Hercules said. The seaplane was shaking in fear.  
"The waves that hit Venice, they weren't normal waves." Sally said. "There was an earthquake this morning, right in the middle of the ocean." There was a collective gasp, leading to mutterings.  
"But if it happened this morning, why do we have to clear the area?" Top Hatt asked.  
"Because, the earthquake caused more than just a few waves." Sally said.  
"It caused one big wave." Hercules said as he realised what was happening. "Sally, did you see it?"  
"Yes, I did." Sally replied, shaking more and more.  
"See what?" Big Mac asked. Hercules took a deep breath before addressing everyone.  
"A tsunami is about to hit Bigg City."

Pearl and the fuel barge had been nearby, so, it was only ten minutes before Ten Cents and Sunshine returned. The two, Grampus, Old Rusty, Little Ditcher and Pearl headed out towards Dender Rocks and the estuaries.

"Pearl, do you know why Venice was making so much noise?" Old Rusty asked, causing groans from the others.  
"Give it a rest." Ten Cents scoffed.  
"I don't know the exact reason, but I heard a lot of noise and saw many boats going towards the cruise ship dock." Pearl replied, confused about the groans of complaint.  
"Let's just put the topic aside, alright Old Rusty?" Little Ditcher chuckled. Old Rusty huffed and the others laughed.  
"Uh-oh, there's trouble." Sunshine growled. Up ahead, Izzy Gomez was beside Lillie Lightship, the two bellowing at each other.  
"What is going on here?" Ten Cents cried. Lillie froze and looked them.  
"What are you doing here, get away!" Lillie screamed.  
"Why, don't you want your fuel?" Grampus said curiously.  
"Can't you see the bloody tsunami heading our way?" Lillie growled. Everyone gasped and looked in the distance.  
A huge wall of water was speeding towards the city. It was twice the height of a cruise ship, and it looked five times as powerful. The loudest rumbling, sloshing sound they had ever heard was coming from it, and no one wanted to be around.  
"We have to go, and quickly!" Izzy said, and he turned to flee.  
"The filthy foreigner wouldn't give me a tow." Lillie snapped.  
"Don't worry, we're here." Ten Cents said, and he quickly tied up.  
"The water is coming, it will kill you all." Izzy said, before racing towards the safety of the port. Ten Cents and Lillie were quickly tied up, but they realised that the tsunami was beginning to descend and crash towards them.  
"EVERYONE RUN!" Ten Cents yelled, and everyone screamed as they ploughed forwards. Sunshine let the fuel barge loose, focusing on keeping Pearl and Little Ditcher tied to him. Old Rusty was in the middle of the two tugs, while Ten Cents pulled Lillie.  
"Grampus, get under the water and save yourself." Sunshine said.  
"No, I am not leaving any of you!" Grampus roared over the wave that was getting closer and closer.  
"Forget us, SAVE YOURSELF!" Ten Cents said, and they picked up speed.  
"TEN CENTS, SUNSHINE, OLD RUSTY!" Grampus screamed. He tried to follow, but suddenly hundreds of litres of waters smashed down upon him. The submarine was forced underwater, spinning 360 degrees both directions. He made out the hulls of his friends in the distance, but he smashed into the bottom of Dender Rocks and fainted. And the thousand gallon wave roared over him, heading straight towards his home and friends, destruction the only thing on its mind.

**That was the final: I hope the last scene shocked you all :D Look out for the new season coming around the end of the year: Secrets from Oceans Deep:  
- Will the city be able to recover from the tsunami?  
- Can OJ and Archer prove Burke and Blair to be evil?  
- Why are Archer and Admiral afraid of the police?  
- What happened to Pacifica, Gareth and Q?  
- And look out for new friends, new enemies, new loves, and a new storyline that will blow your stacks off!**

(If you enjoyed this series, please post a review to tell me what you liked)


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